The Toronto Marlies Calder Cup title was surprising for many American Hockey League fans but not to those who followed the team closely. Why is that the case? They are a well-coached team, and it showed throughout the playoffs. “As coaches, we felt towards the end of the year that we started to really gel as a team. We just kept building and building, and this is the end result, so it’s a lot of fun,” assistant coach Mark Giordano stated after the game. 

John Gruden set the tone as the head coach, someone who waited years for his chance to finally lead a team and prove he can get the most out of it. The coaching staff the Marlies put together was also great, with Michael Dyke and Mark Giordano as the two assistants. 

“We really bonded as a coaching staff, and the players can feel it,” Giordano added. Seeing him in a coaching role particularly turns heads as the players spoke glowingly about him and how he helped them prepare for big games like the ones featured in the playoff run. 

It’s odd to see Giordano behind the bench at first, considering he retired in 2024 after spending 18 years in the NHL. However, his background makes him an ideal assistant and, fittingly, a key part of bringing a championship to his hometown team. 

Giordano spent 18 years in the NHL, making his mark as one of the top defensemen in his era. He retired only two years ago, and while he can’t play at an NHL level, there’s still that burning desire to play. “All the elimination games, the Game 7s, I was always saying to the other coaches, ‘I wish I played in this one,’ and that was another lesson.” There’s still that fire in Giordano to lace up the skates and help out the defense like he’s done his whole life. 

That desire to play made him a top prospect in his junior days with the Owen Sound Attack. It fueled a remarkable career where he became a star with the Calgary Flames, winning a Norris Trophy in 2019. When he retired, he still had that itch to be a part of the game, and it’s why he went straight from the Toronto Maple Leafs to coaching their AHL team. He’s a coach but still a player at heart. 

Yet, all he could do was watch as the Marlies let the clock hit zero on Game 5’s 4-3 win over the Chicago Wolves. Giordano never won a championship as a player and has that passion to win. It’s what makes this Calder Cup title with his hometown team all the more rewarding. “You go through a long career, and you realize how few chances you get, and these guys made good on it.” 

Giordano’s playing days are done. Yet, his coaching career is just starting to take off. At 42 years old, he’s seen as a young up-and-coming mind in hockey, someone who checks off a lot of boxes to become a great leader behind the bench. 

Coaches often come from two types of backgrounds. Either they are middle-six centers or defensemen who played all over the lineup, with both player types understanding multiple roles because they played them. Giordano was a top-pair defenseman in his prime, and as his career went on, he settled into second and third-pair roles. Through it all, he learned a lot about the game while showing off a great hockey sense. 

His knowledge of the game went a long way during the playoffs. In coaches' meetings, he would pick things out and notice strengths the Marlies could make the most of and weaknesses in the opponents. The players took note, especially William Villeneuve, who put together a remarkable playoff run for the Marlies as their top-pair two-way defenseman. 

Speaking of the players, they spoke highly of Giordano. They respect him as a coach who can spot things they might overlook. It’s not a coincidence that he was named the captain for the Seattle Kraken in their inaugural season and became one of the leaders on the Maple Leafs late in his career. It’s also why he checks off a lot of boxes to become a head coach someday. “I definitely have that coaching bug.” 

That bug is there, and Giordano knows it. “I think for me I can definitely see myself being a head coach, but I need to gain more and more experience to get to where I want to be,” he added as the players celebrated on the ice. 

Giordano, while putting together an impressive start to his coaching tenure, is still young, like many of the players in the league he coaches. He’s still taking everything in and learning a lot from Gruden and Dyke, who have been around longer than him. 

That said, the AHL is a young league, and teams are looking for the next upstart head coach. If the Maple Leafs don’t reward and promote him in some capacity, other teams might. If the Maple Leafs promote Gruden to the NHL bench to work alongside Jim Hiller, a move that makes sense since they were both assistants together with the New York Islanders, Giordano might be on the shortlist to become the Marlies' next head coach. Regardless, he’s become a name to watch following the Marlies title, and his reputation in coaching circles will only grow from here.