On Aug. 28, Spiros Anastas joined the Wolves as an assistant to Head Coach Cam Abbott.
Previously, the 39-year-old worked as a head coach in international competitions for Greece and China, as well as a scout for the AHL’s Manitoba Moose during the 2023-24 season. He has also worked as an assistant coach with the Grand Rapids Griffins, winning a Calder Cup championship in 2013.
Anastas recently sat down to discuss joining the Wolves, his coaching style, defensive philosophy, helping young players develop and much more.
What are your thoughts on joining the Wolves?
“It’s a really exciting opportunity for me, especially considering I haven’t been a full-time coach since the 2019-20 season. I’ve been scouting the last three years and doing some international coaching.
It’s exciting to join a storied franchise, one I’ve competed against before and one that has a high standard of success. It’s a perfect job for me to get back into the American League and I’m just excited to get going.”
How has it been working with Cam?
“We’re really aligned in our thinking. We complement each other really well and balance each other out. We’ll both be the kind of coaches who bring the day-to-day intensity that we expect out of our players. It’s just been really great so far working with him.”
You’ll be running the defense and penalty kill. What is your defensive philosophy?
“My personal philosophy is quite aligned with the Carolina Hurricanes organization and with Cam’s as well. It’s a mixture of some simplicity and pressure. One-touch clears, pressuring teams to make hard plays and getting pucks out of their hands.
We’re a team that is going to play really tight defensively. Whether it’s our blue line for entries or if it’s for space and time for the D-zone, we’re all about having great sticks and being tight.
That’s kind of going to be the mold of our team. It’s a 200-foot defense mentality. It’s a great way to play. It’s exciting and it allows our team to play fast. With that kind of defensive mindset, you start to create a lot of offense off it as well.”
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR COACHING STYLE?
“I like to believe that I’m a guy who connects with players really well and builds meaningful relationships that go beyond the 200-foot by 85-foot playing surface.
I need to connect with these guys to find out what makes them tick and how they can develop a growth mindset to get better not only as hockey players but as people.
I’m an easy-going guy and I’m a firm believer that I probably have about six bullets in my chamber so you have to use them wisely throughout the season. We have a staff that has a mentality of finding solutions together rather than coming down on people hard. With the young group we’re going to have that’s going to get them a long way in their careers and for success with the Wolves.”
HOW DO YOU HANDLE COACHING YOUNG PLAYERS VERSUS VETERANS?
“It’s different and the same in certain ways. It’s different in the sense that prospects are doing a lot of things for the first time. We have a lot of first-timers in North America and a lot of first-timers in pro so there’s going to be some growing pains. It’s almost like parenting in the sense that you have to give them some leeway to make mistakes and learn from them but try to correct them as quickly as possible. And get them to connect what you’re teaching them in practice or video sessions to actual game application.
Whereas veterans might have been through that for a while and they are in a different stage in their game where they’re now adapting to aging bodies or on-going injuries or losing a step or two.
A hockey player through his entire career is always going to have to adapt and change so that’s where the consistency happens in our coaching jobs.
When you have a team that is as skilled and as young as us it’s really exciting because the ceiling is really high. We just have to get there as quickly as we can.”
HOW DO YOU BALANCE DEVELOPING PLAYERS FOR THE NHL AND WANTING TO WIN A CALDER CUP?
“I believe great coaches really stick to process and the process is about development. But I do strongly believe that there is some really great development that comes out of winners. You’ve seen it within the Carolina-Chicago relationship with guys like Jalen Chatfield and Seth Jarvis. And I’ve seen in my career before when I won a Calder Cup in 2013 with the Grand Rapids Griffins. If you look at that roster, you see guys like Gustav Nyquist, Tomas Tatar and Petr Mrazek. They’ve had good NHL careers (with the Detroit Red Wings) and I think winning that championship is part of their development.
You can flash the light ahead to your end goal but then you have to flash it down right in front of your feet and look at every step it takes to get there. That’s the big focus when you’re developing future Carolina Hurricanes and players who are going to get to the NHL. You take it one step at a time on the day-to-day habits and the law of averages will say the wins will start coming if you’re doing it right.”
HOW HAS SCOUTING HELPED YOU IN A COACHING ROLE?
“It really changed my perspective on the game. When I got into scouting three seasons ago, I didn’t really know what to expect. I was unsure of my impact or how it would change my view but watching a lot of games from overhead really makes you key in on the nuisances of the game and the areas of the ice that you can take advantage of.
Seeing the value in different kinds of players is great, too, whether they are a first-liner or fourth-liner. It will allow me to help coach guys throughout the lineup a little bit better and with a little bit more detail.”
IT’S EARLY, BUT CAN YOU SHED SOME LIGHT ON PLAYERS TO WATCH THIS SEASON?
“All of these guys are going into the main camp (in Carolina) and they have the goal—if it’s realistic or not—of making the club so we can’t put the cart before the horse.
But if there are some guys who might end up with us, on the front end you see Felix Unger Sorum, Bradly Nadeau and Jackson Blake and there is a lot of skill and a lot of offensive upside to them. Those are three guys who can really get our fans on their feet if they’re playing with the Wolves.
On the back end, you have Scott Morrow and Charles-Alexis Legault, who are two young, first-year pro D who have big size, can skate, can shoot the puck and can play on both special teams. When you have all-around players like that coming in I think it’s really exciting and it will be easy for our fans cheering these guys on.”
IS IT ALL ABOUT REMAINING PATIENT WITH YOUNG PLAYERS TO ALLOW THEM TO DEVELOP?
“There is patience required in development from both parties–the player and the organization. There has to be some urgency in everyone’s game and approach and in my experience with young teams, by Christmas you have a pretty good idea of what you’re going to look like.
It’s our job to get these guys up to speed. I do think there will be some bumps in the road early on but at the same time, every other organization is going through something similar. Whether they have more veterans or not, it takes some time to settle into your game. With our young team, by Christmas I think we can shine with our habits and then our skill can start to rear its head and we can be pretty dangerous in our division.”
WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO AWAY FROM THE ICE?
“I like to work out a ton if I’m not spending time with my family. I’m really, really fortunate that my hockey wife, which is my coaching staff with Cam Abbott, we’ve already crushed some good workouts together. It’s a good environment. We like to stay fit and bring the intensity and hopefully our work ethic shows to our players as well.”
For a previous conversation with Wolves Head Coach Cam Abbott, go here.
For ticket information to Wolves games for the 2024-25 season, call 1-800-THE-WOLVES or visit www.chicagowolves.com.
