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After vicious hit ended his career, Daniel Paille ready for next chapter |
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Daniel Paille will forever be linked to the Bruins as an important part of the team’s fourth line, one that won a Stanley Cup in 2011, and came close again in 2013.
After leaving Boston in 2015, Paille split time between the NHL and AHL, making appearances with the New York Rangers, Hartford Wolf Pack, and Rockford Ice Hogs.
Looking to finish his career on a positive note, Paille jetted for Sweden, signing a contract with Brynas IF of the Swedish Hockey League. With 25 points in 45 games in his debut season, Paille helped Brynas reach the league championship where they ultimately came up just short.
Looking to build off a successful first season overseas, Paille’s second season unfortunately did not go according to plan.
A completely vicious and unnecessary hit from Adler Mannheim’s Thomas Larkin ended not only Paille’s season, but his professional hockey career.
“It’s truly unfortunate the way I ended my career, but at the same time my [overall] personal experience was really good,” Paille told Hockey Buzz. “I kind of wanted a little bit more stability in playing and I heard a lot of good things about playing over in Sweden. I was able to go to a smaller town not far from Stockholm, but a very enjoyable time with the group we had, especially my first year.”
Paille and his wife Dana welcomed a baby boy Emmanuel to the world shortly after his return from Sweden. Getting back to full health, and adapting to life as a parent quickly became Paille’s priority, deciding to take some time away from the game of hockey.
“My son was born that summer, and obviously from there the main thing was to get healthy and at the same time trying to be the best father I can be at home,” Paille said. “I was able to do that for at least a year.”
But like most former professional hockey players, Paille couldn’t remove himself from the game for long. That’s when he decided to do some research and see how he could get himself back into the hockey world.
That’s when he came across Canisius College and head coach Trevor Large.
“I didn’t have a personal connection to Trevor coming in, but I was doing research and kind of getting to know him. I contacted him one day and asked him if we were able to have a discussion and speak with him in order to get involved with the group,” said Paille.
With Paille’s hockey knowledge, past success and vision for what he could bring to the program, Large and Paille were able to make it happen, bringing Paille on as a volunteer assistant coach for the 2019-20 season.
“I knew at the time there were no [full time] positions available and there are certain loops to get around in order to make it possible,” said Paille. “Trevor was kind enough to have that discussion with me and meet me in person. From there we kind of discussed our thoughts about the game, the team and our values.”
As the team’s volunteer assistant coach, Paille primarily helped with the development of the team’s forward group and helped assist the team’s penalty kill units.
“I was more helping out the players with individual skills and positions on where to be, kind of teach within the system of the team,” said Paille. “Last year with the pandemic, it was a little different from my role where I wasn’t involved in person, I was more video chatting or speaking to them on the phone.”
With two seasons as volunteer assistant coach behind him, Paille was promoted to assistant coach in early August, earning his first full time coaching role. Paille joins former Holy Cross assistant coach Max Mobley as the two new additions to Large’s staff.
“Obviously positions came open this summer for myself and coach Max Mobley to come and jump on board,” said Paille. “We’re both really excited and really thrilled to get the season started.”
Paille grew up in Welland Ontario and played four years of junior hockey with the Guelph Storm of the Ontario Hockey League. During his time in the OHL, Paille also represented Team Canada at the World Junior Championship in both 2003 and 2004, winning silver in each tournament.
It was right around that time that college hockey came onto Paille’s radar.
“As I got older I knew some players that played in NCAA and then in my early stages I was living with a player that was watching college hockey,” he said. “I kind of had an idea of following the group and the prospect pool coming out of NCAA as well.”
While Paille obviously wants to see on-ice success as an assistant coach, passing on some of the life lessons he’s learned throughout his career is equally as important to him.
“I think the growth mentality of ages 18, 19 to the 23, 24 of the groups, I think the sense of maturity these boys gain—they really start off as boys but then become men,” said Paille.
“I definitely feel that college hockey is a wonderful opportunity to speak to these— really men now, to kind of teach them the lessons I learned throughout the years, the ups and downs of a career and hopefully I am able to teach them some life lessons along the way.”
Canisius finished fourth in Atlantic Hockey last season, finishing the season with a 8-5-0 conference record, 12-6-0 overall.
But a hot run in the Atlantic Hockey playoffs helped the Golden Griffins reach the conference final and the chance at an NCAA Tournament berth.
Canisius gave American International College all they could handle as the two were tied 2-2 entering the third period before three unanswered AIC goals gave the Yellow Jackets their second consecutive postseason tournament championship.
Now, with Paille behind the bench, and a motivated group in front of him, Paille is excited at the thought of what could be on the horizon for the program.
“I know for us, the group had a tremendous year [last year]. The boys understand that and understand it’s a hard challenge to get there. One thing I really respect and value with this group is that they don’t take a day for granted and they work hard,” said Paille.
“Our expectations like any season are high. We always expect our best effort and we got that, we got the results last year. That’s our goal to continue to do that this year.”
It’s no secret Paille and the rest of the 2011 Stanley Cup Bruins are a tight group. If you’ve seen the reunion zoom they all did last season during the pandemic, you saw this firsthand.
With former teammates such as Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand still finding success in the league, or retired players like Chris Kelly and Adam McQuaid getting new roles inside the Bruins organization, Paille is happy to see some of his former teammates still involved in the game, continuing to make an impact one way or another.
“The fact Bergy and Marchy are still able to play at a high level—and not that they’re that old as a group, but in the league, they’re getting there with age and they’re still able to compete at that high level, it’s just phenomenal,” he said.
“With the rest of the group, they’re the type of guys that I found would stay involved in the game. It doesn’t surprise me where they are and where they are in their careers because they’re all very highly motivated and well deserved.”
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