Steve Spott (born May 18, 1968) is a Canadian

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

coach who is an assistant coach for the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL). He previously was an assistant coach for the

Vegas Golden Knights The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Golden Knights compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division ...

and most recently the

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. The Stars compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The Stars ...

. He previously served as assistant coach for the

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. The Sharks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Con ...

of the NHL. He has previously worked as an assistant coach for the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

and the head coach of the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; ) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League, alongside the Western Hockey League and the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. The league is for players ag ...

(OHL team), the

Kitchener Rangers The Kitchener Rangers are a major junior ice hockey team based in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Midwest Division of the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League. The Rangers have won the J. Ross Robertson Cup as OHL ...

. Spott became a junior hockey coach in 1994, eventually moving to the OHL in 1997. He became a head coach in the OHL with the Kitchener Rangers when Peter DeBoer left the Rangers for the

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Panthers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team initially played it ...

of the

in 2008. On July 3, 2013, he was announced as the head coach of the

Toronto Marlies The Toronto Marlies are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the American Hockey League (AHL) as a member of the North Division of the Eastern Conference. The Marlies are owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, a c ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

after the departure of former head coach Dallas Eakins. He would be promoted to the Maple Leafs as an assistant coach due to his success at leading the Marlies to the AHL's Western Conference Finals.

Playing career

Spott played NCAA hockey with

Colgate University Colgate University is a Private university, private college in Hamilton, New York, United States. The Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York ...

from 1986–1990, as he helped the team win the

ECAC Hockey ECAC Hockey is one of the six conferences that compete in NCAA Division I college ice hockey, ice hockey. The conference used to be affiliated with the Eastern College Athletic Conference, a consortium of over 300 colleges in the eastern United ...

championship in 1990 as Colgate defeated

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (; RPI) is a private university, private research university in Troy, New York, United States. It is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world and the Western Hemisphere. It was establishe ...

5–4 to win the Whitelaw Cup. Colgate then went on to the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship sweeping

Lake Superior State University Lake Superior State University (colloquially Lake State, Soo Tech, and LSSU) is a public college in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, United States. It enrolls approximately 1,600 students. Due to its proximity to the Canada–United States border, ...

in a best of 3 Quarterfinal Series by the scores of 3–2 and 2–1. Spott scored the winning goal in Game 2, propelling Colgate University to its first ever NCAA Frozen Four. At the NCAA Frozen Four, Colgate defeated

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

in the semifinals 3–2, however, Colgate lost to the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

in the final game played at

Joe Louis Arena Joe Louis Arena was an arena in Downtown Detroit. Completed in 1979 at a cost of US$57 million as a replacement for Olympia Stadium, it sat adjacent to Cobo Center on the bank of the Detroit River and was accessible by the Joe Louis Arena ...

in Detroit, Michigan. After college hockey, Spott turned pro. He started the 1990–91 season with a record short try-out in the Swedish Division 1 Club Tingsryds AIF which he ended after "feeling homesick" after less than one week. After returning to Canada from Sweden he spent the 1990–91 season with the

Richmond Renegades The Richmond Renegades were a professional ice hockey team in Richmond, Virginia that played in the East Coast Hockey League from 1990 until 2003. The Renegades played at the Richmond Coliseum, which they marketed in later years as ''the Freeze ...

of the

East Coast Hockey League The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

and the

Newmarket Saints The Newmarket Saints were a minor league hockey team in Newmarket, Ontario. It played in the American Hockey League from 1986 to 1991 as the farm team of the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Ray Twinney Complex. After the 1985–86 season, the Toront ...

of the

. Spott played with the Heerenveen Flyers of the Eredivisie in the Netherlands for the 1991–92 season before retiring.

Coaching career

Junior

Spott was selected OCAA Coach of the Year in 1994–95 with

Seneca College Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology, branded as Seneca Polytechnic since 2023, is a multi-campus public college in the Greater Toronto Area and Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. It offers full-time and part-time programs at the baccala ...

, and then spent the time coaching the Markham Waxers of the

Metro Junior A Hockey League The Metro Junior "A" Hockey League was a junior level ice hockey league based out of Southern Ontario. The league originated in 1956 as the Metro Junior "B" Hockey League, which lasted until 1991, when it changed its designation from Junior B to ...

before landing his first

job as an assistant coach of the Plymouth Whalers from 1997–2001, which is where he first worked with Whalers head coach Peter DeBoer. In 2001, both DeBoer and Spott would leave the Whalers and move to the

, where DeBoer was once again the head coach and general manager, while Spott took the assistant coaching job and assistant general manager job. DeBoer would leave the Rangers in 2008 to take a job with the

, and the Rangers promoted Spott to become the head coach and general manager of the club. In his first season as head coach with the Rangers in 2008–09, the rebuilding club failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since the 2000–01 season. The Rangers improved greatly in Spott's second season as head coach in 2009–10, as Kitchener improved by 34 points, as they had a 42–19–4–3 record, as Kitchener finished in second place in the Midwest Division. The Rangers defeated the Saginaw Spirit in six games in the Western Conference quarter-finals, then the team upset the favoured

London Knights The London Knights are a junior ice hockey team from London, Ontario, Canada, playing in the Ontario Hockey League, one of the leagues of the Canadian Hockey League. The Knights started out in 1965 as the London Nationals but changed to their ...

in seven games in the semi-finals. Kitchener then faced the heavily favoured

Windsor Spitfires The Windsor Spitfires are a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). The team is based in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1971, the franchise was promoted to the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League for the 1975� ...

in the Western Conference finals, and went up 3 games to 0 in the best of seven series, however, the Spitfires came all the way back, and defeated the Rangers in seven games. It marked the first time since 2005 that a team came back from a 3–0 deficit to win a series. Kitchener had another solid season in 2010–11, as the club had a 38–21–4–5 record, earning 85 points, and second place in the Midwest Division for the second consecutive season. Kitchener faced off against the Plymouth Whalers in the Western Conference quarter-finals, however, the club was upset by the Whalers in seven games. The Rangers once again made the playoffs in 2011–12, finishing the regular season with a 42-24-1-1 record, registering 86 points and capturing second place in the Midwest Division for the third straight season. In the playoffs, Spott led the Rangers to a six-game opening round victory over the defending OHL champions, the Owen Sound Attack. In the second round, Kitchener defeated the Plymouth Whalers in seven games to earn a trip to the Western Conference finals for the second time in three seasons. The Rangers though were no match for the

, who won the series in four games. Kitchener once again had another very solid season in 2012–13, finishing with a 39-20-1-8 record, earning 87 points and third place in the Midwest Division. In the opening round of the playoffs, the Rangers defeated their rivals, the Guelph Storm in five games, before losing to the

in five games in the second round. On July 3, 2013, Spott resigned as head coach and general manager of the Rangers.

American Hockey League

On July 3, 2013, Spott was named head coach of the

, the AHL affiliate of the

. Spott played for the Maple Leafs former AHL affiliate, the

, during the 1990–91 season.

National Hockey League

Spott would leave the Marlies after a season, leading them to the Western Conference Finals, as he joined the

as an assistant coach, serving under Randy Carlyle. He was relieved of his duties on April 12, 2015, one day after the 2014–15 regular season ended, along with

General Manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

Dave Nonis, Head Coach Peter Horachek, Chris Dennis and

goaltending Goaltending is a violation of the rules in the sport of basketball. It consists of certain forms of player interference with the ball while it is on its way to the basket. It is goaltending if a player touches the ball when it is (a) in downwar ...

coach Rick St. Croix. On August 24, 2015, the

announced that Spott had been hired as an assistant coach. On December 11, 2019, Spott and head coach Peter DeBoer were fired by the Sharks. Spott was named an assistant coach for the

on January 28, 2020, reuniting him with DeBoer. On May 16, 2022, Spott was fired by the Vegas Golden Knights. On July 1, 2022, Spott was hired as an assistant coach by the

International

During the

2010 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 2010 World Junior Hockey Championships (''2010 WJHC''), was the 34th edition of IIHF World Junior Championship, Ice Hockey World Junior Championship. The tournament was hosted by Saskatoon and Regina, Saskatchewan, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canad ...

, Spott was a member of the coaching staff that captured a silver medal during the tournament. Spott also worked with

Hockey Canada Hockey Canada (which merged with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in 1994) is the national governing body of ice hockey and ice sledge hockey in Canada. It is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and controls the majority ...

during other tournaments, such as the 2011 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, where Spott and the Canadian team won the gold medal. On May 18, 2012, Spott was named coach of the Canadian national under-20 team for the

2013 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 2013 IIHF World U20 Championship (commonly known as the 2013 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships) was the 37th edition of the IIHF World U20 Championship, Ice Hockey World Junior Championship (WJC). It was hosted in Ufa, Russia. It began o ...

. After leading Canada to a 4-0-0 record in the round-robin, the club lost to the United States 5–1 in the semi-final, then suffered a 6–5 loss to Russia in the bronze medal game, as Canada finished in fourth place in the tournament.

Coaching record

OHL

AHL

Personal life

Spott lives in

Plano, Texas Plano ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "flat surface" /'plano/) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, where it is the largest city in Collin County, Texas, Collin County. A small portion of Plano is located in Denton County, Texas, Denton Count ...

while his wife Lisa Spott and their two children, a son and a daughter live in Toronto. He is the uncle of former longtime

centre Stephen Weiss.

Career statistics

External links

*
EuroHockey websiteA Conversation with Steve Spott , The Hockey Writers

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spott, Steve 1968 births Living people Colgate University alumni Dallas Stars coaches Kitchener Rangers coaches San Jose Sharks coaches Ice hockey people from Toronto Toronto Maple Leafs coaches Toronto Marlies coaches