But Ryan Warsofsky always envisioned a future in hockey behind the bench.
"When Mike Sullivan, whose parents are my godparents, coached the Bruins, he'd let me and my brother David on the ice at the team's pregame morning skate,'' recalled Warsofsky, in his first season as assistant coach and manager of hockey operations with the South Carolina Stingrays of the East Coast Hockey League.
"I always liked to pick Mike's brain back then and I've also had a nice relationship with Ray Bourque. I still speak to both of them as I'm learning the profession.''
He listed Sullivan and Bourque as references when he applied for the Stingrays job last August.
Sullivan, also a Marshfield native and the Boston Bruins' head coach from 2003 to 2005, is an assistant on John Tortorella's staff with the Vancouver Canucks.
The Stingrays, based in Charleston, S.C., are an affiliate of the Bruins and its American Hockey League club, the Providence Bruins.
"Ryan's done a tremendous job working with our defensemen and with the penalty kill and he brings a passion to everything he does,'' said Stingrays head coach Spencer Carbery after a recent practice at Germain Arena in Estero, Fla.
The previous evening, the Stingrays, whose roster includes Noble & Greenough School graduate, defenseman Derrick Pallis , clinched a playoff berth with a 6-5 shootout win over the host Florida Everblades.
"Being a rookie coach, I watched and listened at the beginning,'' said Warsofsky. "But as I got more comfortable, I told our D-men that they could learn from me and I could learn from them, and we've developed a great relationship.''
Like the players who hope to make the move to the AHL or higher, Warsofsky rides the team bus, which is equipped with individual bunks and travels as far away as Kalamazoo, Mich.
His other duties: breaking down game videos, handing out meal money, making travel arrangements, and advance scouting.
"It's been a seamless transition and I love it,'' said the 26-year-old, one of four siblings who played college hockey, including David, now skating for the Providence Bruins after starring at Boston University. One of their older brothers, Adam, played for SUNY Brockport, and another, Jarod, skated for Lebanon Valley College in Pennsylvania. Jarod was an assistant coach the past two seasons at Xaverian Brothers High in Westwood.
Ryan was a fine player in his own right, and was a New England Division 2/3 all-star at Curry his senior season, when he led the ECAC Northeast champions in scoring and into the NCAA Division 3 playoffs.
He turned pro and split the 2011-12 season with the Turnhout White Caps in the Netherlands and the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees, a Central Hockey League franchise in Texas.
Warsofsky had decent stats — a combined seven goals and 12 assists in 23 games.
"But I was kind of banged up and after all the travel I felt it was time to make a change,'' recalled Warsofsky, an assistant coach at Curry last season.
Stingrays president Rob Concannon, a Boston native, noted: "I saw he had a lineage in hockey and Mike Bavis, who had coached at Boston University, and my former Providence College teammate, Larry Rooney, spoke highly of him.
"Ryan's a real rink rat who's grown in his new role," added Concannon. "He knows a ton of people at all levels of the game, so when we're evaluating potential players, mainly through word of mouth, Ryan's a great resource.''
Warsofsky stays in close contact with sibling David, who was called up earlier this season by Boston.
"I saw him play in Buffalo and we talk quite a bit,'' said Warsofsky.
"He's my best friend and we're always rooting for one another. We're on different career paths in pro hockey, which is pretty cool for a couple of kids from the Boston area.''
