Canucks goalie coach Ian Clark is “stepping aside"
The Vancouver Canucks appear to be undergoing a bit of a midweek shakeup in their coaching staff.
As first reported by CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal, Ian Clark is “stepping aside” from his role as the Canucks’ director of goaltending. But he’s not going far.
Rumblings that Ian Clarke is stepping aside as Canucks goalie coach to take another role with the team.
Abbotsford goalie coach Marko Torenius is expected to replace Clarke.
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) August 21, 2024
As first reported by Dhaliwal, Clark will be taking on another role with the team, with Abbotsford Canucks goalie coach Marko Torenius replacing him.
Shortly after Dhaliwal’s report dropped, the Canucks offered more clarification on the shakeup. Clark’s new title will be “goalie scout and goaltending development coach.”
“When Ian approached me to say that he needed to make a change in his role to transition off the ice, we quickly went to work to find a solution,” Canucks GM Patrik Allvin said in a statement. “With Clarkie wanting something different at the hockey club, we were extremely fortunate to have Marko in the system and ready to take on the responsibility of becoming our new goaltending coach in Vancouver.
“Unfortunately, Ian can no longer go on the ice regularly to do the things that have made him successful. But this new role will fit with his expertise and having Clarkie going out to find and develop talent will be a big asset to the organization.”
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Clark began his time in the NHL back in 2001-02 with the Florida Panthers, before coming to Vancouver the following season, where he worked with Roberto Luongo. The goaltending guru stayed with the team through 2009-10, before heading off to Modo in Sweden for a single season as their goalie coach. In 2011-12, Clark returned to North America, where he took a job as the Columbus Blue Jackets’ goalie coach, a role he held through 2019. It was with Clark as his goaltending coach in Columbus that Sergei Bobrovsky developed into a two-time Vezina Trophy winner.
And for the last five seasons, Clark has been back with Vancouver, serving four years as the team’s goalie coach, and this past year in a new role as “director of goaltending.”
One longtime fan of Clark’s is Vancouver goalie Thatcher Demko.
“Clarkie, he’s unbelievable. I owe probably just about everything to him,” Demko said in 2021. “Obviously I’m putting in the work, but the way he’s guided me and mentored me, it’s been amazing.
Torenius, a 47-year-old from Finland, will have big shoes to fill stepping into Clark’s role. A former junior goalie in Finland himself, he began coaching at age 25 with the Ilves organization in his homeland, and spent the next two decades working as a goalie coach in Finland and Russia before making the jump to Abbotsford in 2022.