“You’re not a coach, you’re a player” – Charlie Cerrato’s words made the 39-year old Greg Mauldin return to the ice
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Greg Mauldin
The 39-year old Greg Mauldin decided to return to the ice while coaching the team of the United National Development Program. His coaching showed his profound love for the hockey sport that made his desire to step foot on the ice obvious to his players.
Greg Mauldin became the first Black coach in USNTDP history when he was named as an assistant coach to Dan Muse on October 21, 2020. The retired NHL forward listened to the 17-year old Charlie Cerranto’s advice to make a professional comeback to the game.
Greg Mauldin’s decision to a comeback
Greg Mauldin re-signed with Stavanger in Fjordkraftligaen, the top division in Norway and the last team he played for in 2018-2020, after playing 5 games for the Kalamazoo of the East Coast Hockey League. Greg joined the Stavanger in the nick time for the playoffs where he is among the top scorers among the Oilers with 6 points in 8 games.
Mauldin noted Charlie’s voice as, “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?” “He’s, like, ‘I see you out here, the way you’re shooting, having fun. You’re not a coach. You’re a player.'”
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Greg confessed, “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,’” “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.”
Greg played for 16 seasons in the NHL, American Hockey Teams, and for teams in several other countries. After coaching for a while, he admitted that he had been feeling that he has some unfinished business to take care of first. According to nhl.com, Muse and Scott Monaghan, assistant executive director of USA Hockey, said to Mauldin
“(Scott) just said, ‘If you have that itch to play and you still have stuff left in the tank, then you should do it,”
Since then this 39-year old forward has been trying to make a comeback to the NHL ice not as a coach, but as a player.
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