Mailbag #36: Brock Sheahan

RALEIGH, NC. -Just 25 days ago Brock Sheahan was hired as the head coach of the Chicago Wolves.
Already late in the summer, he's now tasked with his first major event as a member of the Hurricanes staff - guiding the team's up-and-coming talent in the Prospect Showcase presented by Invisalign.
As the team has a practice day amid their set of three games in four days, he took the time to answer some of your questions.

(Please Note: Some questions have been edited for clarity.)
What was intriguing to you about the Chicago Wolves job? - @pdowney88
Honestly, I've never thought of myself needing to be a professional coach, college coach, junior coach or whatever. I've never looked at it that way. It's more what's the best opportunity to get better with the right people - and best for my family.
Obviously with the Steel we were in a great position, but when talking to Darren, Don, Rod, and the more I talk to people in both the Hurricanes and Wolves organizations, it just seemed like the right fit. It's how I want to coach and what they were looking for out of the head coach, so it seemed like an opportunity in my mind, and my wife's mind, that we just couldn't turn down.
I like working with young players, obviously. I think there's a lot of room for players to grow, our roster with the Wolves is going to be young. I'll have a familiarity with the age range and one thing that we always did with the Steel was we had very young teams, and that was by design. If you have young, talented players, they can grow. That's something that I'm very excited about. This experience so far, being in Carolina, is exactly that - a learning experience. Being at an NHL camp, seeing how things are done, seeing the way that Rod and his staff operates has been really impactful so far.
What aspect of his coaching style does he treasure most and believe sets him apart from other coaches in the league? - @baileyycurtis
I don't really pay attention to other other coaches that I've coached against as far as what they're doing, to be honest. The way that we coached with the Steel, the way we communicate the way I communicate with players, letting them understand that the reason I do this is so that they get better and they can achieve their dreams. It's not about me. It's about them. It's about the team. I think that once players are around my staff and I for a while, that's what they feel. Then the buy in is there and that's why we are able to get a lot out of our players.
The focus in Chicago] was the individual development. Obviously in line with our team concepts and our team goals and whatnot, but that was truly our goal. It was to help them get better, not necessarily win and I feel the reason we had success and we won was because of how we developed our players.
**What does he see as the challenges between coaching and motivating 16-20 year olds with the Steel compared to coaching older players in the AHL? - [@atrione15
For the players, it is their job. It's their livelihood.
Not that at the junior level guys don't have pressures, they do, like the draft and of course they have goals to make it to the next level.
I think the moving parts of a professional season, being in American League, is going to be interesting. If you look at our time with the Steel, our roster did not change very much - especially during the year. We had a trade here and there, but now we'll have guys going up and down, and trades. I think that's going to be the learning process for me, making sure that our team is connected and cohesive with all the moving parts.
I think there'll be a lot of new challenges as far as the pro game and what subtle differences I might have to make with the style of play, but for the most part, our team will be connected to what Rod is doing with the Canes so that way our players will be successful when they get there.
What's the one thing we should be looking forward to the most with his presence as a leader, and the team he has next to him? - @CanesYr
I think I've learned a lot from everyone I've either worked with or played for. I think you take pieces from every stop along the way. I think it's most important to be genuine to myself and how I coach, and not try to be someone I'm not. I want the players to see a true version, a genuine version of who I am.
My time at Notre Dame was very impactful. My first job in college, working in Holy Cross with David Berard was very impactful. Then working with Greg Moore, before he went to the Marlies, that was a very another impactful piece of my learning curve.
Who was your role model growing up? - @pdowney88
I think my biggest role model was my Papa, my grandfather. He was a great person. He was passionate. So my siblings and I learned a lot about how to live the right way.
I love the game of hockey and part of the reason hockey became such a big part of my life was how much he loved the game. He was just an all-around amazing person.
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