Griffins assistant coaches Matt Macdonald (right) and Brad Tapper both have experienced what it takes to win championships.

Story and photos by Mark Newman

When Ben Simon was named the head coach of the Griffins this past summer, he looked to add two assistants who would not only support his teaching efforts but also complement his coaching skills.

Of all the qualities that Simon required, the one that might have been most obvious is that they had to know what it takes to win.

“Matt Macdonald and Brad Tapper have both won championships as players and/or coaches at different levels, so they understand what it takes to have success and the work that is necessary to help our guys develop on a daily basis,” Simon said.

“They also both have head coaching experience, which was very important for me in my first year as a head coach in this league, and they’ve had unique careers both as players and coaches to this point. I’m excited to work with them.”

Simon has previously been associated with both Macdonald and Tapper.

The new Griffins coach has known Tapper the longest, both having started their pro careers with the Orlando Solar Bears in 2000-01 after four years of college hockey. While Simon came from Notre Dame, Tapper had played at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI).

A native of Scarborough, Ontario, near Toronto, Tapper comes with offensive credentials, having developed into a point-per-game player at the AHL level and having tallied 14 goals and 11 assists in 71 NHL games with the Atlanta Thrashers over three seasons (2000-03).

He also played five seasons in Germany, finishing his playing career in 2008-09 with the Iserlohn Roosters, which is where he reconnected with Simon, who would play for two more seasons.

Simon and Tapper won two championships together as players. With Orlando, they etched their names on the final Turner Cup in 2001 before the IHL disbanded, and they won the Calder Cup the following year with the Chicago Wolves.

“Benny was our warrior,” Tapper recalled. “He was a workhorse. He threw the body around and he would hit everything in sight. He would put his face in front of a slap shot. That was the type of player he was and he’s the same hard-working guy now as a coach.”

Looking back on the experience, Tapper said both champions defined the word ‘team.” They won because they played together.

“We had a great group of young guys who were almost drooling to get to the next level,” he said. “We had that hunger where we would do anything to win. We were pushing the older guys and they, in turn, were pushing us. When we were on the ice together, we were true teammates. We had each other’s back and I think we were a close-knit group.

“The second year was similar because we were still hungry and motivated. The third year we had almost the same team on paper but the result wasn’t the same because the same effort wasn’t there.”

Tapper started thinking about coaching during his last year in Germany. “I was a little banged up and it was time to think about what came next,” he said. “When a coaching job opened with the Tier 2 Junior A team in North York, I jumped at the chance.”

He became an assistant in the ECHL for four seasons, three with the Florida Everblades and one with the Orlando Solar Bears, then moved up to the AHL for three more seasons, two with the Chicago Wolves and one with the Rochester Americans.

Tapper became the head coach of the ECHL’s Adirondack Thunder last season, compiling a 41-24-7 record on the way to a North Division title and an appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Like most coaches, Tapper is the coach he is today because of the coaches he had as a player, along with the experience he has gained during his eight seasons in the coaching ranks at the pro level. “As a player, I wasn’t a great student, but I believe I’m a better teacher,” he said.

“John Paddock, who was my coach in Binghamton, was a player’s coach, but if you weren’t pulling your weight, he would get on you. John Anderson, my coach in Chicago both as a player and an assistant, was laidback. When a referee makes a bad call, don’t go crazy on the bench because you can’t change it. Just roll with it.

“Greg Poas, who coached in Florida, was one of the best Xs and Os coach you’ll ever find. From Benny, I’ve learned that you can never be too detailed. You take a little from everyone. It’s no different than being a player. You learn stuff every year.”

Simon first met Macdonald in 2013 when he became the head coach in Cincinnati, where Macdonald was already the assistant after having finished his playing career there.

A native of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Macdonald played Division I college hockey at St. Lawrence University, a small school in upstate New York. “It was a great place to not only learn about hockey but to grow up in life as well,” said Macdonald, who earned a degree in sociology. “It was an all-around great experience.”

A gritty, stay-at-home defenseman who played with intensity, Macdonald began what would be a seven-year pro hockey career in the unlikely spot of Lubbock, Texas, in the CHL. “Going to the panhandle of Texas to play hockey was a bit of culture shock,” he said. “It was a different way of life down there but it was a college town (Texas Tech) so I loved it there. The fans weren’t necessarily that educated about hockey but they were passionate about the team.”

Macdonald split the next three seasons between the ECHL and AHL, playing his finals three years in Europe (Italy and Denmark). He earned his first promotion to the AHL with Rockford during the last half of the 2007-08 season, then returned for the ECHL playoffs in Cincinnati, where he helped the Cyclones win the 2008 Kelly Cup as league champions.

“Any time you win a championship, it’s something they can never take back from you,” Macdonald said. “I was very fortunate to be a part of that team and I often think back to that year and the things that enabled us to achieve success.”

He spent most of the 2008-09 season in the AHL with the Portland Pirates, a positive experience that he believes earned his ticket to Europe, where he learned to change his style of play to fit the larger ice surface there. “It wasn’t enough to be a shutdown defenseman there,” he said. “I had to elevate the offensive instincts in my play.”

Like Tapper, Macdonald said it was in Europe where he began thinking about coaching. He spent his first season in Italy playing for Steve Stirling, curiously the same coach whom Tapper had played for in his final year in Germany. “He taught me a lot about the game, especially the offensive side of the game,” Macdonald said.

“I learned a lot from the coaches I had during my three years in Europe. I absorbed how they worked and I asked a lot of questions. I tried to get myself involved in their preparation and everything that went into it. When I started to see the game from the coaching side, I found I enjoyed it even more.”

The transition from being a player to coach, however, was not easy. “The first year is always tough,” Macdonald said. “You see things happen on the ice and you wish you could be out there to either remedy the situation or be a part of it. Eventually, you realize your time has passed.”

In 2012-13, Macdonald became the assistant coach with his former team in Cincinnati under Jarrod Skalde, who coincidentally has been a teammate of Simon and Tapper in Orlando, Chicago and Atlanta.

“For many different reasons, it was a great situation for me,” he said. “Having played there, I had a familiarity with the organization and everyone involved with the team. It was also great that Jarrod was the head coach because he threw me right into the fire. He didn’t have me sit back and observe. He had me running practice plans and video sessions right from the beginning.”

His second season, working under Simon, was equally enlightening. “What impressed me about Ben is the same thing that impresses me now. His attention to detail and his work ethic set him apart. When you watch Ben and see how hard he works, you see what it takes to have success.

“Ben also has a good way to relate to players. He’s very honest with them, but he also knows where they come from. Because he played the game a long time, he understands there are times you have to be hard on them and other times when you have to back off.”

Simon and Macdonald took the Cyclones to the Kelly Cup Finals, losing in six games to the Alaska Aces (featuring current Griffin Turner Elson). Simon became only the second head coach in ECHL history to reach the championship series in his rookie season.

“It’s the teams that have great chemistry that seem to push through to the top because the players all want to win for each other,” Macdonald said. “Whether a team wins or loses, they all feel it. A guy can have two points, but if the team loses, that’s what counts. You need to have chemistry in order to have any success.”

When Simon left for the AHL, Macdonald became the head coach and director of hockey operations in Cincinnati for the next four seasons leading up to his promotion to Grand Rapids. He guided the Cyclones to a winning record during each of his four campaigns, including two Kelly Cup Playoff appearances.

Both Macdonald and Tapper say their coaching styles have evolved over the years, in part, because the game has changed and technology has improved, leading to increased use of statistics and video.

“Now everything is at your fingertips,” Macdonald said. “The only problem with video is you can stop it, you can start it, you can slow it down, but it doesn’t show you what the player is thinking. The game is so quick now that things happen fast and you don’t always have time to see everything that you see on video.”

Just as it takes time for a team to come together over the course of a season, Tapper thinks there will be a growth process for the coaching staff. “It’s true we know each other off the ice, but now inside the coaches’ room, we’ve got to learn each other. We have to learn how Ben wants his pre-scouts, what he wants to show with video, how he runs practice, how he wants us to run drills.

“While we get to know the players, we will push each other as coaches. If one of us has an idea, speak up because we’re trying to make each other better. Whether it’s a good idea or a bad idea, you gotta say it.”

From the players’ perspective, Tapper believes success depends on three things.

“You can control your effort every single day of your life,” he said. “You can also control your attitude, which can be displayed to all of your coaches, teammates and everybody in the organization. If your effort and attitude are better than your opposition, you will be better.

“The third thing is you can play for each other. If you learn to play for each other, the sky’s the limit, if you ask me. And it all starts with sending the right message every day, which Benny does.”

Initially, Tapper has been put in charge of forwards and the power play, while Macdonald will oversee the defensemen and the penalty kill. Those responsibilities are subject to change, of course. And when it comes to teaching, they all play a role.

“When you’re a coach, you’re a coach – you help everybody,” Tapper said. “If somebody needs something, you help them right away because that’s your job.”

Macdonald said the coaches are excited about the potential for the players they have this season.

“We have a great mixture between experienced vets and some hungry, young prospects,” Macdonald said. “We have great leadership from guys who have had success in their careers. They’re good people, and when they’re working hard, the other guys fall into line. The younger guys are hungry and they want to win. There’s a lot of potential.”

Tapper reiterates that it all comes down to attitude and effort.

“If you want to win a hockey game, your guys need to play for each other,” he said. “If you’re only going to worry about your points or your plus-minus, you’re not going to succeed. It’s when you’re blocking shots and winning the battles in the dirty areas of the ice, that’s when you win. When you play for each other, anything can happen. The sky’s the limit.”