Former NHLer and German national team player Marco Strum recently did an interview with German website Eishockey News where he revealed he was one of the final two candidates for the vacant San Jose Sharks head coaching position. On Monday, the NHL team introduced former assistant Ryan Warsofsky as the 11th head coach in franchise history.
“If you are among the last two candidates and then are not chosen, it’s a very big disappointment,” said Sturm.
Sturm explained the interview process in detail, having several meetings with club management on topics such as game strategy and player development that lasted several hours at a time. According to the interview, GM Mike Grier informed him on Thursday that the team had decided to go with Warsofsky, with “a detail in game philosophy” being the deciding factor.
“That’s the way the business is and I've been in it long enough,” Sturm said. “I have to accept it. I know what I can do, that I’m a good coach and I’m also confident that I’ll find the right club at some point.”
Sturm was a first-round draft pick of the Sharks, 21st overall, back in 1996. He played seven and a half seasons with the Bay Area team before being traded to the Boston Bruins as part of the trade that saw Joe Thornton go to San Jose. He finished his NHL career with short stints in Los Angeles, Washington, Vancouver and Florida. He also played a total of 195 games in Germany's DEL at various points in his career for EV Landshut, ERC Ingolstadt and Kölner Haie.
Sturm played for Germany in three IIHF World Championships, three Winter Olympics and the 2004 World Cup of Hockey.
After retiring as a player, he got into coaching, first in Germany, where he was head coach of the national team for three seasons and guided the Germans to a surprising silver medal at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang.
Since 2018, he has worked in the Los Angeles Kings organization as an assistant coach in the NHL and, for the last two seasons, as head coach of the AHL’s Ontario Reign. When the NHL Kings were struggling in late January, Sturm was rumored as a possible replacement for Todd McLellan, but Kings assistant Jim Hiller instead got the job.
Sturm still has one year remaining in his contract with Los Angeles and is picky about the situation under which he’d leave.
“I have received a few requests for the assistant coach position in the NHL, but I have turned them all down,” he said. “I want to keep my head coach position and I also feel comfortable in LA. And as I said: I am sure that sooner or later I will find the right club.”