It was a long road to the NHL for San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky, now his brother, David, is following in his footsteps.
Ryan Warsofsky earned his first head coaching job with the ECHL's South Carolina Stingrays heading into the 2016-17 season after three years as an assistant under Spencer Carbery, who is now the head coach of the Washington Capitals.
Last season, the younger Warsofsky moved into the coaching world after a lengthy playing career split across the NHL, American Hockey League, and the German DEL. He joined Jared Nightingale's staff on the Stingrays as an assistant coach, helping them earn a playoff spot in his first season behind a bench.
When Nightingale opted to return to the Rockford Icehogs organization, where he had previously served as an assistant coach, to fill their head coaching vacancy, David Warsofsky was ultimately promoted into the head coaching job.
“He brings with him a championship pedigree, elite-level playing experience, a deep understanding of the game, and genuine appreciation for the organization’s culture and standards,” Stingrays owner Todd Halloran said in a press release back in June.
In his first season as a head coach, Warsofsky led the Stingrays to the postseason once again. At the time of writing, they're in the middle of the first round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs facing the Atlanta Gladiators.
Despite David Warsofsky being just the 13th head coach in Stingrays history, they've had some impressive names pass through their halls. On top of the aforementioned elder Warsofsky and Spencer Carbery, the current head coach of the Colorado Avalanche, Jared Bednar, also spent quite a bit of time with the Stingrays.
The Brothers Warsofsky have had two vastly different paths to the start of their coaching career, but ultimately they both got their first head coaching job in the same place, nearly a decade apart.