Bill Zito and Chris Grier go way back, far before their respective time as general managers for the Florida Panthers and Miami Dolphins.
Zito, a hockey agent before shifting to NHL front office roles, actually tried to represent Grier’s brother Mike (now the San Jose Sharks’ general manager) in the 1990s during the start of what became a 14-year NHL playing career.
“We’ve known each other for a long time now,” Zito said.
The two support each other, as friends as well as colleagues in the same sports market. They understand there’s a mutual benefit to learning from the other’s craft and that there might be more crossover between football and hockey than one might think.
That was on display recently when Zito and Panthers star winger Matthew Tkachuk brought the Stanley Cup to a Dolphins practice a couple weeks ago. The back-to-back Stanley Cup champions met with the Dolphins, who open their season Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts and are looking for their first playoff win since the 2000 season, and imparted some wisdom as to what made them as successful as they have been the past few years.
Much of the talk had little to do with on-field performance.
“Bill and Matthew Tkachuk came over and talked about how the uniqueness and closeness of a locker room is so important,” Grier said. “Hearing that again just kind of reiterated everything that we’ve been talking to the players about, about spending time together. You’ve heard players talk about the 10-day road trip [through Chicago and Detroit over the first two weeks of the preseason], how they weren’t fired up and then after, they’re like, ‘It was the greatest thing that ever happened. We truly loved it and had a really good time in getting closer.’ So that’s what I’m excited about, that these guys are all going to play for each other and try to win football games. It’s not about individuals, it’s about winning as a team.”
Zito, who became the Panthers’ general manager ahead of the 2020-21 season, said interactions like this are “priceless.” Zito is an avid supporter of the other pro teams around South Florida and believes things are best when all the teams in the area are successful.
There are specific ties with the Dolphins though, beyond Zito’s previous ties to the Grier family, in that they share the same Baptist Health medical staff.
“From the day I got here, Chris has been gracious with his time, with helping me individually,” said Zito, whose team reports for training camp later this month and begins its quest for a three-peat on Oct. 7 against the Chicago Blackhawks. “He’s a very, very smart guy. We share lots of discussions about players, scouting, coaches, scheduling, anything and everything in between, and he’s been a great resource for me. … Everything about it is wonderful, and I think it’s important. It’s great because we all pull for each other. Those guys come to our games. Our guys are all about the Fins. We’re very blessed and fortunate to have that type of relationship.”
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel echoed the sentiment of the general managers.
“It was very powerful in that the team had decided before that speech, well before that speech, that not only were those relationships important based on their professional experience but important enough to really lean into,” McDaniel said. “The orchestrated unit or position dinners and outings were probably tenfold from years in the past because they valued it. And then to hear not just a one-time champion but it doesn’t get more difficult than being a repeat champion, to hear that same emphasis I think was powerful in their own confidence in what they’re doing.”