John Gruden

John Daniel Gruden (born June 4, 1970) is an American professional ice hockey coach and former player. He is head coach for the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League. Prior to Toronto, he served as an assistant coach for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League during the 2022–23 season. He also served as an assistant coach for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL) from 2018 to 2022. He previously served as the head coach of the Hamilton Bulldogs and inaugural head coach of the Flint Firebirds of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL).

Playing career
Gruden played high school hockey in Hastings, Minnesota in the late 1980s. Drafted 168th overall in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft by the Boston Bruins, Gruden played for the Bruins, Ottawa Senators and Washington Capitals, playing a total of 92 regular season games, scoring one goal and eight assists for nine points and collecting 46 penalty minutes. He also had a spell in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga in Germany for the Eisbären Berlin.

Coaching career
Gruden has worked as an assistant coach for the Detroit Little Caesars AAA hockey club, coaching for their Squirt 2000 squad. He coached for a short stint for the storied Brother Rice JV prep squad (1–16). He also spends time doing work on behalf of the Red Wings Alumni Association. Gruden coached the Stoney Creek High School Cougars hockey team in Rochester, Michigan along with fellow NHL alumnus Greg Johnson.

More recently, Gruden served as an assistant coach for the USA Hockey National Team Development Program, helping lead the United States to a gold medal at the 2014 IIHF World U18 Championships.

On March 26, 2015, it was announced that Gruden would serve as the inaugural head coach for the Flint Firebirds of the Ontario Hockey League during the 2015–16 season. In a highly publicized incident, he was fired a month into the season. Reports claim the firing was due to refusing to increase the playing time of defenseman Håkon Nilsen, the team owner's son, however team president Costa Papista denied the reports. Following a successful player walkout, Gruden was reinstated as the Firebirds head coach and given a three-year contract extension. On February 17, 2016, Gruden was again fired by the Firebirds. On June 3, 2016, Gruden was named head coach of the Hamilton Bulldogs. Following the 2017–18 regular season, he led the Bulldogs as the OHL playoff champions.

On July 18, 2018, the New York Islanders hired Gruden as an assistant coach. On June 9, 2022, Gruden was relieved from his duties.

On July 20, 2022, the Boston Bruins hired Gruden as an assistant coach. Following the season, helping the Bruins to the most successful regular season in league history,

On July 4, 2023, the Toronto Marlies hired Gruden as head coach.