An Iowa Heartlanders player now, but a coach later?

CORALVILLE — He looked like a coach.

Nattily attired in a suit and tie, lineup sheet in hand, clapping his hands and encouraging guys as they finished their shifts and headed off the ice. Helping with defensemen player changes.

Ryan Kuffner spent a couple of games earlier this ECHL season as a pseudo assistant coach for the Iowa Heartlanders. Head coach Gerry Fleming was out for a bit dealing with COVID-19, Kuffner was injured and unable to play, so he joined assistant, turned interim head coach Derek Damon behind the bench.

Could this be a permanent thing some day?

“It was awesome,” said Kuffner. “We’re a great team here, a great group of guys. I’m lucky to have had that opportunity. That’s the closest you can be without actually being there (as a player).

“I think being behind the bench is an opportunity to be other guys’ ears, other guys’ eyes when they come off the ice. Maybe give them a tap on the shoulder, let them know they’re doing a good job.”

He’s back to being Ryan Kuffner the player now instead of Ryan Kuffner the coach. The 25-year-old winger had seven goals and 23 points in 17 games for the Heartlanders, going into their Saturday night game at Xtream Arena against the Utah Grizzlies.

The Ottawa, Ontario, native and Princeton University alum is an assistant captain for the club. He’s rounding into good form after an extended stay on the injured list and a short bout of COVID himself.

“I feel healthy, which is obviously the biggest thing,” Kuffner said. “But, you know, when you have times like that when you’re injured or whatever, COVID, that’s completely out of my control. You just want to stay with the boys, you want to pump them up, you take on a different role.

“When you take a ton of time off, you go into one of two mindsets. You either feel sorry for yourself, and it’s the end of the world. Sometimes it feels like that. It’s a hard business to be in, especially when you’re not playing, you’re not performing. Then the other side is you really get to evaluate yourself. I didn’t have a great start to the year, so I got to evaluate myself and see what I had to improve. I got to work on that, work with teammates to try and get back into it.”

Kuffner played last season in Germany and signed an American Hockey League contract this offseason with the Iowa Wild in Des Moines. He has played five games with the Wild, spending the vast majority of his season with the Heartlanders.

He brings skill and smarts to the lineup, as well as experience. Kuffner signed with the Detroit Red Wings in March 2019 after a terrific senior season at Princeton that saw him score 22 goals and post 44 points in 31 games.

He played 10 games with Detroit, then spent the 2019-20 season in the AHL with Grand Rapids and Bakersfield.

“Incredible. A dream come true,” he said. “Obviously I’m not there now, and there were probably things I could have done, now that I look back on it. But at the same time, every day was a learning experience. I got to play with some great players, for some great coaches as well. I’m lucky to have had that opportunity to kind of evaluate myself and see what the best players in the world do. That’s all you can do. Even though you’re a little star struck and wide-eyed, it was a great experience.”

Kuffner is driven to get back to the NHL, as you’d imagine. He’s got that Ivy League degree (finance and economics) in his back pocket whenever he decides to hang up his skates.

“Maybe one day try and sell some bonds, sell some stocks. See what happens,” he said.

Or coach?

“You never know what opportunities come up,” he said. “I’ve always said that it’s one of those things where it’s one day at a time. I go to practice tomorrow, I’m a player. I’ve got a job here. The rest of the year I’ve got a job to perform. I think that (coaching) would be cool, but a lot of pressure, a lot of preparation. That would take kind of a different mental side to be able to do. But maybe. We’ll see.”

Comments: (319)-398-8258, jeff.johnson@thegazette.com