The new head coach of the Chicago Wolves spoke with the media Thursday, hours after his hiring was announced.
Now that the Carolina Hurricanes and Chicago Wolves have rekindled their partnership, the Canes are underway in filling out their AHL staff with the first announcement coming today that they have hired a new head coach in Cam Abbott.
The 2021-22 SHL Coach of the Year most recently spent six seasons in Sweden as the head coach of Rogle BK.
Abbott, 40, has a long history with the game having played four years at Cornell and nine years internationally before turning to coaching in 2016.
In Sweden, Abbott also worked alongside his twin brother Chris, who served as the GM of Rogle BK during those same six seasons and who is now the GM of HV71.
Now after years of putting in the work, Cam Abbott has earned the opportunity to try his hand at coaching back home in North America.
"It just felt right," Abbott said on a Zoom call Thursday with local media. "I'm obviously exceptionally excited to work under a guy like Rod Brind'Amour and to work with the Carolina Hurricanes organization. And at the same time, to coach in an organization like the Chicago Wolves with a history and commitment to being a great club both on the ice, with their performances and expectations of excellence, but also the impact they've had on the community and how they've been just a massive presence in the Rosemont area.
"There were a lot of draws to be honest with you. It has me smiling every time I see someone from Carolina calling and talking about this opportunity. I'm really thrilled, excited and honored to have this opportunity."
The Sarnia, Ontario native has extensive coaching experience working with some of the NHL's premier young, European talent.
He's coached a litany of guys such as Moritz Seider, Marco Kasper, Nils Hoglander, Rasmus Sandin and many more.
"I believe that it's really important to create strong connections with players right from the first day," Abbott said. "Whether it was Nils Hoglander or Moritz Seider or Marco Kasper or Adam Engstrom -- the list kind of goes in -- but it's about showing an interest and connecting with them and making sure that they understand that I'm here to serve them. We ran the youngest team in the SHL the last five out of six years and that included an awful lot of prospects playing in positions that they might not have had in other organizations. Just making sure that they see how trusted they are and that they understand the growth that needs to take place in a short amount of time if they want to accelerate their opportunities to get overseas and make an impact.
"I think it's important when you can not just help guys get there, but prepare them for when they do arrive in the NHL so that they have the foundational parts of their game to allow them to become somebody that NHL coaches don't want to have leave the lineup. Not taking any shortcuts and setting the standard that the guys adhere to to help the team win and in the process, they seem to pick up those habits and characteristics that help them develop and that will serve them well in the years to come in their hockey careers. It's a partnership. It's an everyday thing making sure those habits are in place because again, these men are young and ambitious and ready to put the work in and the excitement is being there to serve them."
While he does a strong track record with developing talent, as a coach, all of his experience took place in Europe, where the ice is bigger and the physicality is less prominent.
But Abbott doesn't think he'll need to make much of an adjustment coming over to North America.
"I think that I just need to lean into my experience and knowledge that hockey is hockey," Abbott said. "It's a little bit of a bigger rink over there but there's a lot more similarities than differences. I think there's some impacts of more work along the boards and areas of the game that are more heavily incentivized to be good at in North America as there's some differences than with the bigger ice in Europe, but I think a bigger part of this is going to be leading these young men that I get to work with and bringing the standards and compete level and energy that you see everyday with Carolina and how they play."
Installing those Carolina systems, work ethic and expectations will perhaps be the biggest part of the job too.
"I would love to think that this club can have a great level of success both in producing star players for the Carolina Hurricanes in time but also with creating a great brand of hockey for Chicago and being an exciting place for young players to develop and play very similar to how Carolina plays in the NHL," Abbott said.
Coming into a place with specific systems already in place could perhaps feel stifling for many coaches who'd want to perhaps incorporate their own brand of hockey, but Abbott is actually quite excited about coaching in the Hurricanes' style.
"I'll be honest with you, I've followed them extensively over the last two years and they've been the most enjoyable team for me to follow very closely," Abbott said. "I'm very drawn to how they play. I think it' smart, it's team first, it takes a lot of energy and it's a fun system when you create the right environment for the players to buy in and have some fun together."
According to Abbott, the building out of the remainder of his staff is in process and will take place over the next few weeks.
"We know how important it is to get the right people in place," Abbott said. "I've always approached my role as a head coach, professionally over the last seven years, as one of a team. The staff is a team of four sometimes five people that are all at the same level and are ready to work hard together to create the best place for the players. So it's going to be important to find the right pieces for this group and for these young guys when they arrive in September."
Additional Quotes from Thursday's Availability
On how the opportunity developed: In the hockey world, you can usually reach somebody through somebody else pretty quickly. I know both my twin brother and I, in working in Sweden with an awful lot of young, talented players developing into NHL prospects and NHL players, we've had the opportunity to cross paths with a lot of people including those in the Hurricanes organization. I believe that the fact that we've been successful in Rogle BK, and especially myself as the coach, has shown an ability to develop and create an environment where guys can do their best work. I'd like to think that that opened some doors.
On Felix Unger Sorum: He's a good, young hockey player. Very smart. Exceptionally talented. Again, the NHL is a man's league and there's a lot of areas, for him to be at his best, that he's going to have to continue to improve upon but I do know, having coached against him and following his career on the Swedish Junior team and with the men's team at the World Championships, that there's an awful lot to work with and I'm excited to work with him and a while host of other young guys that are coming in. It's about leveraging thsoe strengths of his and also identifying areas that can help him create that foundation. Keep what's special and make sure we build upon that, but also rounding out his game because I do know that he wants to be a top NHL player and with that, is going to need a lot of hard work and a lot of growth and working each day to get better each day for however long I get to work with him.
