COLUMBUS, Ohio – Players and coaches across the country are already gearing up for another hockey season, with more than 530 coaches in Columbus this weekend working to finetune their craft at the 2025 USA Hockey Long Drink Level 5 Coaching Symposium.  

Many hockey coaches in the United States may have dreams to one day move up the ranks and coach at the highest professional levels. But rather than focus on where they want to be later in their career, three current coaches in the NHL spent time Saturday morning reminding their coaching peers to focus on being their very best in the current moment.

Ryan Warsofksy, head coach of the San Jose Sharks, and also helped deliver the United States its first gold medal at the IIHF Men’s World Championship in 92 years this past May, explained his effort and commitment to the U.S. Men’s National Team was what he gave to his alma matter, Curry College, as an assistant coach in 2012-13.

“That is so important if you want to continue growing as a coach and move up the ladder, or really be a successful coach where you are,” Warsofsky said. “You need to really focus on where you are.”

Warsofksy, who is the youngest head coach in the NHL, admits it isn’t always easy to not think about the future.

“It is a problem not just in coaching, but a human problem,” he said. “We are always looking for the next best thing. We are always looking at next weekend. I am going on vacation or I am doing this or I have to deal with this. A lot of times we worry before we have to.

“A lot of that is because we have a forward-thinking mindset. We have to be exactly where our feet are where we are coaching. When I was coaching at Curry College, or when I was coaching in South Carolina as an assistant coach, I was trying to do the best possible job I could do in that particular job.”

Derek Lalonde, an assistant coach for the Toronto Maple Leafs, shared that no matter where or what level he was coaching, it always felt like a dream job to him.

Originally, all Lalonde ever aspired to be was maybe a gym teacher or high school coach in New York, and now he has to pinch himself when he realizes he is coaching the NHL.

“Stay in the moment, and I know it is hard to do,” Lalonde said. “Be great where you are at, and I mean that. I look around the room and I see people at every level all trying to work their way up. Be great at where you are at. I got that advice early in my career. Crush it at everything you do where you are. Every job I took, and it sounds like hindsight now and I obviously worked my way to the top of my profession, but it was my dream job.

“I put everything into where I was at, and I was great where I was at. So, stay in the moment, be great where you are at and it will come in the right time and the right way.”

Jeff Blashill is entering his first season as head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks and made it a point during the Coaches Symposium to remind all the coaches in attendance just how important their current positions at the youth level are, prior to his presentation on Winning Fundamentals.

“The impact that youth coaches have on people is amazing,” Blashill said. “I have watched with my own children and seen the impact that their coaches have had not only on a playing standpoint, but more importantly from a personal standpoint.”

Blashill reminded the group to not feel the need to rinse and repeat with everything they are consuming and learning during this year’s four-day symposium.

The Michigan native encouraged coaches to evolve with what they learn in their own way.

“I applaud them not just for the fact that they are youth coaches and are helping mold people, but also for coming here to grow and try to get better. My biggest piece of advice is grow in your own way. Take ideas in and try and make them your own. Use critical thinking to try and figure out what’s the best way to implement those ideas in my setting, my level and my personality.”

Looking ahead to the upcoming season, Warsofsky’s presentation encouraged the coaches in attendance to solidify what their teams identity’s will be this year.

“It starts day one and it is discussed nearly every single day,” Warsofsky said. “First meeting you have with the team is about what your team identity should look like. It is through video showing clips of it, and you are going out and practicing it day one. You have a problem when you see these coaches trying to find their identity after 15 games. That is extremely difficult because there is a lot more going on. When you start, your record is 0-0, and that is a perfect time to do it.

“That is very important and cannot wait.”