Color of Hockey: Mauldin attempting comeback in Norway at age 39

William Douglas has been writing The Color of Hockey blog for the past 10 years. Douglas joined NHL.com in March 2019 and writes about people of color in the sport. Today, he profiles Greg Mauldin, a former coach in USA Hockey's National Team Development Program who's making a comeback as a professional player at age 39.

Greg Mauldin
had "the itch" so bad that it was obvious to the players he coached at USA Hockey's National Team Development Program.
"I was on the ice with the guys for one of the goalie sessions and one of my players, Charlie Cerrato, kept watching me and he said, 'What are you doing? Why don't you go back and play?" Mauldin said. "He's, like, 'I see you out here, the way you're shooting, having fun. You're not a coach. You're a player.'"
Mauldin, a retired NHL forward who became the first Black coach in USNTDP history when he was named an assistant to Dan Muse on Oct. 21, 2020, followed the 17-year-old forward's advice and is scratching that itch by making a professional comeback at age 39. He re-signed with Stavanger in Fjordkraftligaen, the top division in Norway and the last team he played for (2018-20) after playing five games for Kalamazoo of the ECHL. Mauldin rejoined Stavanger in time for the playoffs, where he's among the Oilers' leading scorers with six points (three goals, three assists) in eight games.

Stavanger is playing Sparta in the semifinals. The series is tied 2-2.
"When I retired, I remember saying to myself, 'No more bag skates, no more blocking shots, no more back-to-back games and all that stuff,'" he said. "But I missed the competing part of it. I missed the one-on-one battles, and yes, the blocking shots, the hits, the crowds, the camaraderie with being part of the team. You can have that camaraderie as a coach, but it's not the same."
Mauldin played 16 seasons in the NHL, American Hockey League and for teams in Switzerland, Germany, Croatia and Norway. The forward was selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the seventh round (No. 199) of the 2002 NHL Draft. He played at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he scored 94 points (48 goals, 46 assists) in 98 games from 2000-04.
He scored 10 points (five goals, five assists) in 36 games for the Blue Jackets, New York Islanders and Colorado Avalanche.

Mauldin already began thinking about life after playing hockey when the coronavirus pandemic hit and effectively shut down the sport in Europe and North America in early 2020. USA Hockey, impressed by Mauldin's collegiate, NHL and international hockey credentials, offered him the assistant position and he accepted, excited by the opportunity to work with players on Under-18 team.
Then Mauldin said he began getting that feeling of having unfinished business as a player several months later. He sought counsel from Muse and Scott Monaghan, assistant executive director of USA Hockey for the USNTDP and USA Hockey Arena.
"(Scott) just said, 'If you have that itch to play and you still have stuff left in the tank, then you should do it," Mauldin said.
Mauldin began preparing to return to play. He went home to Massachusetts around Christmas to retrieve equipment unused since 2019-20. He started arriving at USA Hockey's practice facility in Plymouth, Michigan, at 4 a.m. to skate on his own before his coaching day began.
James Mullin, an assistant on the Under-18 team, connected Mauldin with Nick Bootland, a friend who coaches Kalamazoo, an affiliate of the Blue Jackets and Cleveland of the AHL. Kalamazoo was looking to replenish its roster after several players were called up to their NHL and AHL parent clubs to fill out taxi squads because of COVID-19.
Mauldin signed a contract Jan. 7 and essentially became a moonlighting professional hockey player. He agreed to continue to coach for USNTDP by day then drive about 114 miles to play for Kalamazoo at night.
"It had been 682 days since my last game and I had been skating in my full equipment for about a week at that point," Mauldin said. "That first game, I had the hit of the game. I had a lot of fun just playing, blocking shots. I was really, really into it.'"
Bootland said Mauldin arrived in Kalamazoo as one of the best-conditioned players on the team.
"This guy's doing hundreds of burpees a day and he's an absolute machine," Bootland said. "He'd drive two hours, play a game, then he'd do a half an hour of burpees after the game before he had to drive two hours home to get up and coach the next day."

Muse said he used the Mauldin's games as teaching moments.
"That first game that he played for Kalamazoo, we had the whole team text thread going throughout the game," Muse said. "I'm watching it at home with my kids and I'm taking video of it and sending out to our players. We were all just excited for him."
Mauldin scored three points (two goals, one assist) for Kalamazoo. Then Norway came calling.
Stavanger's coach and general manager Todd Bjorkstrand invited Mauldin to return and provide veteran leadership on the ice and in the locker room for their playoff run.
"I literally have guys on my team who are 20 years younger than me," said Mauldin, who turns 40 on June 10. "Someone asked me the other day how many games have I played professionally … I'm running close to 1,000 games, which would be kind of cool to eclipse."
Mauldin won't be done playing when Stavanger's postseason ends. Earlier this month, he signed to play in 3ICE, a 3-on-3 professional league that will debut in the United States and Canada this summer.
Mauldin said he's playing by ear after that. He said he isn't thinking about attempting an NHL comeback, but ...
"You never know what could happen," he said with a laugh. "I've seen weirder things happen."
Photos: USA Hockey, Stavanger Oilers, Greg Mauldin