LA Kings Asst Marco Sturm on His Young but Successful Coaching Career

(Photo credit: Andrew D. Bernstein/NHLI via Getty Images)

While it may feel like yesterday, it certainly has been a minute since the Los Angeles Kings were Stanley Cup champions. That is not to suggest that Kings fans should feel down, though. After all, the rebuilding Kings have pointed themselves in the right direction with the strong potential to become a championship contender once again. Yet, while the promise of future Kings are significant to the club’s success, the same can be said for the club’s current roster, led by a solid coaching staff which includes assistant Marco Sturm.

Following his 14-year NHL career, which included a brief stint with the Kings, Sturm wasn’t initially focused on transitioning to the coaching ranks. Over time, though, Sturm had changed his mind — with a little help from his family — and so, his coaching career was born, paying dividends in a short period of time.

I recently had the privilege of speaking with Marco Sturm about his coaching career thus far, including how he got to Los Angeles and how he’s enjoying his time with the Kings.

Transitioning Behind the Bench

After playing 42 games for the Florida Panthers in 2011-12, Marco Sturm had decided to call it a career. In 938 career games, Sturm had scored 242 goals and 487 points. Like with any professional athlete, retirement forces one to think about what’s next. Sturm may not have made up his mind at this juncture but he certainly received some inspiration along way.

“After I was done with hockey, I stayed in Florida and spent some time with my family,” Sturm said. “At that time, my kids were playing junior hockey for the Junior Panthers and after a while, I was a little bored and also loved to go to the rink to see my kids play.”

While his family helped in his transition from player to coach, it was the encouragement of Sturm’s son, Mason, that convinced the former San Jose Shark to give coaching a try.

“It happened really quickly but I think it’s my son’s fault,”  an amused Sturm recalled. “My son asked me if I can go on the ice again and kind of be a coach, and that’s how it started. All of a sudden, I coached my son’s team the following years, I coached more youth hockey, middle school hockey at a private school in Florida.

“So, I got more and more [coaching experience] and then I received a call from Team Germany.”

This call led to Sturm coaching his native country at multiple major tournaments, most notably at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Korea Calling

While participating in the Olympics is a honour in itself, Marco Sturm and Team Germany went in determined to enjoy the experience but also with a playing-with-house-money mindset. After all, having never been considered one of the sport’s marquee nations, Germany wasn’t expected to do much in men’s hockey. Nevertheless, Sturm and his team were excited to be Olympians.

“This was something that might not ever happen again, so that’s why I was really happy and excited to coach, not just as a player to play, but also to coach your home country,” noted Sturm.

As thrilling as this opportunity was, though, 2018 was not the first time Sturm had represented his country on the Olympic stage. Having played for Germany at the Nagano Games in 1998, Salt Lake City in 2002 and Vancouver in 2010, Sturm was certainly a seasoned Olympian. Still, the former NHLer was entering his first Olympics as a coach, and doing so with little-to-no chance.

Cue the underdog to exceed expectations.

After finishing the round robin with a win and two losses, Germany began their surprising run to the final.

Led by veterans, and Sturm’s former Sharks teammates, Christian Ehrhoff and Marcel Goc, Germany eliminated Switzerland and heavily-favoured Sweden — both in overtime — before shocking Canada in the semi-final.

“The result, we never really thought of coming home with a medal and maybe that was a good thing,” Sturm admitted. “But going there, we just wanted to have a good tournament, we wanted to have the experience, the Olympic vibe, and wanted everyone to enjoy those couple of weeks. But, those couple of weeks, all of a sudden, turned into something more and we kind of felt it during the tournament and we ended up in the final.”

While Germany fell just short in the gold-medal game, losing to the Olympics Athletes from Russia in overtime, the experience was nonetheless an invaluable one for Sturm and his team — one that the current Kings assistant will take with him for the rest of his career.

“I can’t even describe in words how much it meant for me, for German hockey and for my country,” Sturm fondly reflected. “This was a humbling experience and it was just a good time. It also helped us grow the sport of hockey, especially in Germany.”

While critics may argue that the field was thinner due to the NHL’s absence in Pyeongchang , Germany’s run in men’s hockey was nonetheless a major achievement, forcing other countries to take note in the process.

Since joining the German national team in 2015, Sturm has served either as coach or general manager for his native country at multiple major events, including the World Juniors, the World Hockey Championship and the Deutschland Cup. It was his team’s vast success at the 2018 Olympics, though, which invigorated Marco Sturm’s competitive juices, fueling his desire to improve and, ultimately, to win.

“I think the Olympics changed a lot of things,” Sturm said. “I enjoyed coaching, learned more every year and at every tournament with the national team. Then, I got the silver medal at the Olympics and that changed because I felt like I wanted more. Now, I’ve got the itch and I wanted more and knew I could get more, too. I wanted to be at the top level and for me, the top level is the NHL. I was lucky enough to play [in the NHL] as a player and that was my goal, to be part of an NHL team one day [as a coach].”

Sturm did not have to wait long.

Returning to Royalty

After starting the 2018-19 with a dismal 4-8-1 mark, the Los Angeles Kings cleaned house. On Nov. 4, 2018, the Kings fired head coach John Stevens and assistant coach Don Nachbaur, replacing them with Willie Desjardins and Sturm, respectively.

“It happened really quickly and I’m very fortunate that [Kings GM] Rob Blake and his management team called me to ask me to be an assistant coach,” Sturm noted. “It was more of a dream come true and I knew I wanted to come back to the U.S. with my family, so, for us, it was an easy decision.”

Desjardins, who had coached Team Canada in Pyeongchang, was brought in as the club’s interim head coach.

“I’m almost two years in with the Kings and had two different coaches with two totally different styles,” Sturm observed. “With Willie Desjardins, he’s a great, great guy. I learned a lot from him.”

Following a 31-42-9 finish to the 2018-19 season, though, Desjardins was not brought back to Los Angeles for another season. As for Sturm, after suiting up for the Kings for 17 games in 2010-11, the native of Dingofling, Germany, was hoping that his coaching career with the franchise would last a bit longer. Sturm got his wish as he was retained by new head coach Todd McLellan after the 2018-19 campaign wrapped up.

“I’m very fortunate, very lucky, to have a coach, a boss, like Todd McLellan,” beamed Sturm. “Every day, I feel like I’m learning something new from him as an assistant coach but especially as a young coach, I think there’s no better way to get better if you have a guy like him. Not just him, though, but the whole team, the whole coaching staff. They’re very experienced and you can tell right away, so that helped me a lot. [McLellan] is very, very organized, he prepares very well and that is something I never really experienced as a coach and I’m really lucky to have him as my head coach and also my other coaches, as well.”

New Coaching Challenges

While the franchise — and their ever-loyal fanbase — are proud of their Stanley Cup success, the Los Angeles Kings have parted ways with much of their championship roster. After struggling in recent years, though, the Kings are on the rise again.

Like they were just prior to realizing their Stanley Cup dreams nearly a decade ago, the Kings’ current farm system is among the best — if not the best — in the NHL.

While some championship cogs remain such as Hart finalist Anze Kopitar, Norris Trophy winner Drew Doughty and Conn Smythe winner Jonathan Quick, the promise trajectory, if you will, is pointing in the right direction for the silver-and-black. After all, with promising up-and-comers such as Mikey Anderson, Gabe Vilardi and Cal Petersen, it’s hard not to feel excited for the Kings’ future. Marco Sturm is no exception to this.

“With the Kings, we’re in a bit of a rebuild mode and we’re slowly trying to get out of it,” the 41-year-old stressed. “We’ve drafted some really good kids and we’re looking forward to this year’s draft. I think we finished the season really well this year and I’m very excited to start again next season to get better again.”

While every rebuild comes with its share of frustration, the challenge for Sturm is nonetheless an enjoyable one as the 14-year NHL veteran is eager for what’s to come.

“This is a different time but also a fun time as well as a coach as you grow with those young kids, try to get better every year and that’s what we’re going to do next year,” an enthusiastic Sturm concluded.

One of the more underrated players in recent memory, Marco Sturm has enjoyed a similar route with his coaching career.

Led by future Kings’ GM Dean Lombardi, the San Jose Sharks drafted Sturm 21st overall in 1996 in the midst of a major team rebuild. The rebuild, which also saw the future Kings’ GM draft, among others, Patrick Marleau, Ryane Clowe and the aforementioned pair of Ehrhoff and Goc, saw the Sharks improve in each of Lombardi’s — and Sturm’s — first six seasons in San Jose. Sturm would remain a Shark until late 2005 when he was traded to the Boston Bruins in a blockbuster deal that sent Joe Thornton to the west coast.

When his playing career, which also included stops in Washington and Vancouver, was through, Marco Sturm held — and still does hold — the distinction as the highest-scoring player in NHL history among German-born players.

Of course, while the likes of Uwe Krupp, Olaf Kolzig and Jochen Hecht all represented their native country well in the NHL, the future of German hockey could not be any brighter — and Sturm is a big reason for that.

While they already represent a strong contingency, it is partially thanks to Sturm’s contributions that Germany will continue to make their mark in North America.

From Philipp Grubauer to Tobias Rieder to Hart finalist Leon Draisaitl, Germany is already well-represented on this side of the Atlantic and will be even more so this coming October when Tim Stuetzle is set to become the highest-drafted German in NHL history.

Likely to be selected in the Top 5 this fall, Stuetzle, like Sturm was, is a forward blessed with a plethora of speed, and could even be drafted by the Kings, who currently hold the No. 2 pick.

From the AHL to the collegiate and major-junior ranks, there are more than enough reasons to be excited for the future of the Los Angeles Kings. A significant part of said future, though, is taking place right in Los Angeles and that is thanks to, among other areas, a deep, proven coaching staff. As a part of said staff, which also includes Bill Ranford and Trent Yawney, Marco Sturm is sharing his experience both as a coach and as a former player to make sure that when the Kings are ready, they will begin the ascent to the top of hockey’s proverbial mountain once again.

 

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