Scott Radley: Is the NHL going to come calling for Bulldogs’ Steve Staios?

Talk to Hamilton Bulldogs' president Steve Staios about any of his players or coaches and you'll probably hear him talk about his hope that they'll get a chance to make it in pro hockey someday.

But what about him?

I've had teams call and I have teams calling," he says. But my focus is on this team."

We'll get to the second half of that answer in a second. First, let's deal with the opening line.

It's not hard to see why he might be attracting interest from NHL teams.

When he was hired to run the Bulldogs in June 2015, he inherited a not-very-good situation. In his first season, Hamilton finished 16th out of 20 teams and missed the playoffs. Just three years later, his players were skating around FirstOntario Centre with the OHL championship trophy above their heads.

It was a remarkable turnaround. It also had the potential to be a Faustian Bargain, because those who watch this league know that a giant wave is usually followed by a tremendous crash.

Winning requires older players. There is an age limit in the OHL, so the guys that made you good graduate and leave you young in the coming years. Plus, you've almost certainly had to deal a boatload of draft picks to get a star or two to put you over the top which affects your future. Add it all up and you know you're going to pay for your big moment.

All that indeed happened. Staios went with veterans and he traded picks. And things did crater a bit the next year as Hamilton fell to 14th.

But, look at the teams that have won championships over the past decade and there's a pattern. Three seasons later, they averaged 10th place. It takes time to climb back. Many don't do it for years.

The Bulldogs this season? First overall. Ranked No. 1 in all of Canada. An absurd record of 32-4 since the start of 2022, heading into Friday night's final regular season home game against the Niagara IceDogs.

The team's second-leading scorer (Avery Hayes) was drafted in the sixth round. By Staios. Same with its fourth-leading scorer (George Diaco). That's not supposed to happen. His sixth-leading scorer was taken in the eighth round. That's really not supposed to happen.

He acquired both his best forward (Mason McTavish) and his highest-scoring defenceman (Nathan Staios) in trades that carried significant risk and required some real nerve to pull off.

And his goalie (Marco Costantini) is leading the league in goals against average, save percentage and shutouts. Staios waited until nine other puck stoppers had been drafted in 2018 and then grabbed him in the fifth round.

The scouting staff he's hired has been great. The new coach (Jay McKee) he brought in has to be a favourite for coach of the year. Pretty much everything he's touched has turned to gold. Not just this year but in the past few, too.

I seriously think he has all the makings of being in management in the NHL," says team owner Michael Andlauer.

Of course, this puts Andlauer in a bit of a conundrum. Like Staios, he wants his players and employees to have the chance to move up. Says he would never hold him back. On the other hand, he doesn't really want to lose a guy who's been this successful running his franchise.

Which boils things down to the second part of Staios' answer to that earlier question. Does he really not think about it at all?

The 48-year-old says the fact that a handful of organizations have reached out is flattering. But he's not actively searching for a job in the big league and, no, he isn't thinking about it right now.

OK, but does the idea interest him?

He answers by saying he could be happy being in Hamilton for the rest of his career. It's his home town. His family is close. He likes the people. It's a great situation. And having played 1,001 NHL games in a long career and seeing how the sausage is made, he knows not everything about the pro life is as glamorous as it might appear.

Even with all that, would he be interested if the right situation arose?

The answer is yes," he says. But right or wrong, I don't think about it."

Scott Radley is a Hamilton-based columnist at The Spectator. Reach him via email: sradley@thespec.com