The Springfield Thunderbirds looked like they were starting the 2024-25 season the same way they’ve started a lot of seasons. They were 4-9-1 and the St. Louis Blues weren’t going to provide them with much help (they weren’t sending down any talent as a team looking to keep a contention window open, even as it wasn’t). Being at the bottom of the Atlantic Division in the American Hockey League (AHL) was inevitable for the Thunderbirds, something the fanbase knows all too well from recent seasons.
Then the wins started to come, and the Thunderbirds went on a run. Two strong months pushed them out of seventh place and into the middle of the division and the latest three-game winning streak gives them a 26-19-2-3 record, which by percentage, is the fifth-best in the division.
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The strong play as of late is a reflection of head coach Steve Konowalchuk’s vision for how the team should play coming to fruition. He was hired this offseason and is an innovative coach who has the Thunderbirds playing a brand of hockey that is tough to stop. It’s why they’ve suddenly become a team to watch when many overlooked them before the season began.
Konowalchuk is a unique head coach, and it’s shown in his first season at the AHL level. However, he’s got a team that doesn’t have a surplus of talent playing above its weight. He has a contrasting style to most coaches this season, but he’s proving he can be a great coach at this level and possibly one to watch in the future for NHL teams as well.
How Konowalchuk’s Background Shaped Him as a Coach
Konowalchuk was an offensive-minded forward in an era where goals were down. He was far from a star player, but consistently contributed to the Washington Capitals’ offense. In 2000-01, his 24 goals were only second on the team behind Peter Bondra and despite the urge to create offense, he was one of the few forwards on the team who would step up on the defneisve end of the ice as well.
The north-south element of his game as a player is reflected in how his teams play, certainly, that’s what happened when he became the Seattle Thunderbirds head coach in the Western Hockey League (WHL). Konowalchuk coached a handful of skilled players, none more notable than future All-Star and Calder Trophy winner Mathew Barzal, and with talent on the ice, it’s all about letting it take over games. That’s what happened in the WHL and allowed Konowalchuk to coach a title-winning team in the 2016-17 season.
The playing days and early coaching years made Konowalchuk a coach who wanted his teams to play with speed. They could gash teams on the rush and run up the score with their offense overwhelming opponents. While a lot of coaches in the WHL, AHL, and NHL have focused on structure and defense, he turned his focus to skill and getting the most out of talented forwards.
Konowalchuk’s Vision On the Ice
The Thunderbirds play with pace and create plenty of scoring chances. On top of that, they are an offensive-minded team. It explains why they average 3.32 goals per game, with four skaters contributing 30 points or more to the offense. The Blues gave Konowalchuk two elite prospects with Dalibor Dvorsky and Aleksanteri Kaskimäki leading the forward unit, and he’s gotten the most out of them. Dvorsky has 15 goals and 20 assists, while Kaskimaki has 11 goals and 21 assists, making both skaters look ready to make the next step to the NHL.
While the Thunderbirds don’t defend well, they are great on the offensive end of the ice. Even when they control the puck and possess it in the offensive zone, they move it effectively and look for the open skater. With the offense humming and the goaltending stepping up, Konowalchuk has the ideal combination to allow this team to win games. The Thunderbirds are set up to play well on the ice, but it’s also the temperament behind the bench that has allowed this team to string together wins as of late.
Konowalchuk Is an Even-Keeled Coach
There are a lot of passionate coaches in hockey. From John Tortorella to Patrick Roy to Rod Brind’Amour, some coaches bring an energy behind the bench that brings out the most in the roster. Konowalchuk is not one of them. Instead, he provides a calm and steady presence and his reaction when the Thunderbirds are leading 6-0 is similar to the one when they trail 6-0.
The first word that comes to mind when thinking of Konowalchuk is “chill” and it’s easy to see why when his teams are playing or when he’s asked to speak to the media after games. It doesn’t always work out and these types of head coaches can lose a team fast, but in the long run, Konowalchuk has this team playing great hockey. He’s similar to Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar who will sometimes see his team struggle, but he’ll remain unfazed knowing the plan in place is working, and it’s helped the team win the Stanley Cup in 2022 and make the playoffs in each of the past seven seasons.
The Knock On His Style
The Thunderbirds can score early and often, but they look exhausted at the end of games. They play fast and often struggle late because of it. Their Feb. 23 game against the Bridgeport Islanders saw them squander a 2-0 lead in the third period, only to recover and win 3-2 in the shootout.
Konowalchuk has the team scoring, but when they need to close out games, they struggle to do so. It’s a style that contrasts with a lot of coaches in the NHL and even the AHL. Todd Nelson has the Hershey Bears playing a structured brand of hockey and when they need to shut the door, they can. Grant Potulny, like Konowalchuk, is a first-year head coach in the AHL and took a similar path, moving up from the college and junior level ranks, but his Hartford Wolf Pack teams play a physical game.
It’s still early in the Konowalchuk tenure, and a lot can happen from now until the season ends. That said, it’s interesting to watch how his team plays since he can be the coach teams look for to contrast with what the rest of the league is hiring. A lot of NHL teams want a coach who preaches structure, yet a team might take a chance on Konowalchuk and see it work out, especially if he gets the most out of the star players.
