The Maple Leafs have once again gone to the HHOF to find inspiration to fill their executive roles.
Player Development Consultant Darryl Belfry and Belfry Hockey Inc. will oversee the technical development of the club’s players and staff, while Will Sibley has been promoted to Director of Development Operations and Analysis. #LeafsForever
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) May 17, 2021
We all know Haley Wickenheiser, and have seen her at development camps and other events for the Leafs:
Dr. Wickenheiser joined the Maple Leafs organization on August 23, 2018, as Assistant Director of Player Development. She has worked with players throughout the Maple Leafs development program since joining the club with a focus on prospects based in Western Canada, while also completing her education at the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine in 2021.
What a journey, and in a pandemic to boot!
— Hayley Wickenheiser (@wick_22) May 15, 2021
Got my wings today.
H.W. M.D.✔️ pic.twitter.com/0fmUTn5X5h
Danielle Goyette is a HHOF player and former Team Canada star with an extensive coaching career:
Goyette joins the Maple Leafs after serving as head coach of the University of Calgary Dinos women’s hockey program since 2007, capturing the CIS Championship in 2012. Goyette has also served as an assistant coach of Canada’s national women’s hockey team on three occasions, winning a goal medal at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi and the 2012 Women’s World Championships in Burlington, Vermont, while adding a silver medal at the 2013 World Championships in Ottawa.
She is a two-time Olympic champion (2002, 2006) and captured a silver medal in 1998, and served as Canada’s flag bearer at the Opening Ceremony of the 2006 Olympics in Turin. Goyette won eight World Championships for Canada and scored the gold medal-winning goal in 1992, 1994 and 1998. She was named to the Order of Hockey in Canada in 2018.
Darryl Belfry and his company have been involved with the Maple Leafs since 2014, and he is also a consultant to Chicago Steel of the USHL, a source of Maple Leafs draft picks in recent years, and the former home of Marlies coach Greg Moore.
Belfry has worked with the club as a Player Development Consultant since the 2014-15 season. His company, Belfry Hockey Inc., works with clients across hockey including Maple Leafs forwards John Tavares, Auston Matthews and Jason Spezza.
Will Sibley has come up through the ranks just like the players do, and after a stint with the Kitchener Rangers as video coach, he’s been with the Marlies and Leafs for three years:
Sibley worked as the Toronto Marlies’ Video Coach for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons, capturing the 2018 Calder Cup as a member of Sheldon Keefe’s coaching staff. He transitioned into the Maple Leafs front office in 2019-20 as the club’s Hockey Operations Analyst before being elevated to the role of Director of Video and Prospect Analysis prior to the 2020-21 season.
Goyette has left her position with the Dinos and said this about her resignation:
“It wasn’t an easy decision to make,” said Goyette, who joined the Dinos in 2007 following her retirement from the women’s national team. “I loved my job, I loved working at the University of Calgary. I have grown a lot as a person and as a coach, and I had the chance to work with so many great people. I feel fortunate to have had a chance to make a difference for so many young hockey players.
“On the other hand, what an honour to have a chance to work for one of the best sports organizations in the world. This opportunity was too good to pass up – it’s a new challenge and I’m looking forward to working with the Maple Leafs and the Marlies. Changing cities and positions will be an adjustment, but I’m looking forward to the next chapter.”
And if you watch her highlights there, you will discover that Danielle Goyette was absolutely a zippy little winger.