Rob Zettler (born March 8, 1968) is a Canadian former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference t ...

who played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

(NHL) for 14 seasons with the

Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are owned by San Jose Sports & Entertain ...

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (commonly referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and ha ...

and

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, a ...

Playing career

Zettler was drafted 55th overall by the

in the

1986 NHL Entry Draft The 1986 NHL Entry Draft was the 24th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 21, 1986, at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec. The National Hockey League (NHL) teams selected 252 players eligible for entry into professional ranks, in the revers ...

. After two seasons with the North Stars organization, he was claimed by the

in the 1991 NHL Dispersal Draft. On February 1, 1994, the

Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimorp ...

traded Zettler to the

in exchange for Viacheslav Butsayev. Philadelphia traded him to the

for a fifth-round pick in the

1996 NHL Entry Draft The 1996 NHL Entry Draft was the 34th NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the Kiel Center in St. Louis, Missouri, on June 22, 1996. The last active player in the NHL from this draft class was Zdeno Chára, who retired after the 2021–22 season. ...

on July 8, 1995. With Toronto Zettler enjoyed his most productive season in 1996-97, scoring 2 goals and adding 12 assists for 14 points. After being left unprotected by the Maple Leafs he was claimed by the

in the

1998 NHL Expansion Draft The 1998 NHL Expansion Draft was an expansion draft held by the National Hockey League (NHL) to fill the roster of the league's expansion team for the 1998–99 season, the Nashville Predators. The draft took place on June 26, 1998, in Buffalo, N ...

. On September 7, 1999, Zettler signed as a free agent with the

. Rob Zettler announced his retirement on August 27, 2002, he finished his NHL career with 569 games, scoring 5 goals and 65 assists for 70 points.

Post-playing career

He had been an assistant coach under Ron Wilson, but was relieved of his duties after Wilson's firing. He has also been an assistant coach for the San Jose Sharks (under former San Jose and former Toronto head coach Ron Wilson). Zettler also served as colour commentator for

radio broadcasts and provided commentaries on

radio broadcasts before becoming an assistant coach. While a member of the Sharks coaching staff, he provided insight into games during telecasts with updates before the start of the second and third periods. On March 2, 2012, Zettler was again relieved of his position of assistant coach to Ron Wilson in favour of another position within the Toronto Maple Leafs organization. In July 2012, Zettler was hired by the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play ...

to be an assistant coach with their AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch. After the promotion of Jon Cooper on March 25, 2013, Zettler was named the head coach of the Crunch. Although Zettler coached the Crunch to their first ever Calder Cup Finals appearance in 2013, Zettler had minimal success as head coach of the Crunch. In three full seasons as head coach of the Crunch, Zettler led the Crunch to one playoff appearance in that time frame, in which they were swept by the

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League, and are the AHL affiliates of the National Hockey League's Pittsburgh Penguins. They play at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barr ...

in round one of the 2015 Calder Cup playoffs. On May 10, 2016, the Syracuse Crunch announced the hiring of Benoit Groulx to replace Zettler as head coach of the team. On July 3, 2017, Zettler was hired as an assistant coach for the

, replacing Bob Boughner, who was hired as head coach of the

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference, and initially played their home g ...

on June 12, 2017. When Boughner returned to the Sharks on May 29, 2019, he filled Zettler's position on the staff. On December 7, 2020, Zettler returned to the Lightning organization, becoming an assistant coach under Lightning head coach Jon Cooper once again.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zettler, Rob 1968 births Canadian ice hockey defencemen Canadian people of German descent Ice hockey people from Quebec Kalamazoo Wings (1974–2000) players Living people Minnesota North Stars draft picks Minnesota North Stars players Nashville Predators players People from Sept-Îles, Quebec Philadelphia Flyers players Portland Pirates players San Jose Sharks coaches San Jose Sharks players Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds players Toronto Maple Leafs coaches Toronto Maple Leafs players Utah Grizzlies (IHL) players Washington Capitals players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey coaches Tampa Bay Lightning coaches