NHL team threatened to fire head coach during Cup Championship series

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Josh Tupper
August 27, 2023 (9:03)

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A coach's job is to ice his best team at all times. That means making difficult decisions that might not sit well with everyone, but doing so in the spirit of doing what's best for the team. That's exactly what Ryan Warsofsky did during the 2022 Calder Cup Finals.

Unfortunately for Warsofsky, as an AHL Head Coach there are additional elements that go into the job. The additional responsibilities include the development of young prospects, but most teams are willing to suspend development during the playoffs. Well, apparently not the Carolina Hurricanes.

During the 2022 Calder Cup Playoff, the head coach of the Chicago Wolves, Ryan Warsofsky almost lost his job. Warsofsky's termination wasn't on the table because his team was performing poorly, his team was actually in the Calder Cup Finals. Instead his job was on the line because of his decision to play veteran Alex Lyon ahead of top prospect Pyotr Kochetkov.

Carolina threatening to fire the team's then-head coach Ryan Warsofsky during the 2022 Calder Cup Finals if he continued to play goaltender Alex Lyon over Hurricanes prospect goalie Pyotr Kochetkov

This did not go over well with the Wolves, who have instead made the decision to no long be affiliated with the Hurricanes. Instead the Wolves will be the only AHL team WITHOUT an NHL affiliate next season. While it makes sense that the Hurricanes want to see their players developed, it's tough to see any situation where threatening to terminate your coach during the Finals makes any sense.

Warsofsky went on to lead his team to a championship and ultimately ended up being hired by the San Jose Sharks as an assistant coach, so he's obviously no worse off.

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