Tuesday, June 02, 2015

John Hynes takes the reigns in New Jersey; fourth Terrier to become an NHL head coach



Former Terrier forward John Hynes was announced today as the new head coach of the New Jersey Devils by General Manager Ray Shero. Hynes has been the head coach of the Penguins AHL team in Wilkes Barre/Scranton for the past five seasons with a 231-126-8-13 record. He reached the 100 win mark in the second fewest games in AHL history.

A Warwick, R.I. native, Hynes will be the youngest NHL head coach at age 40. He is the fourth ex-Terrier to take the helm of an NHL team, joining Steve Stirling (Islanders), Mike Sullivan (Bruins) and Joe Sacco (Avalanche).

 A member of BU’s 1995 national champions and the 1996 and 1997 Frozen Four squads, Hynes began his coaching career as a graduate assistant under former BU coach Jack Parker. After serving as an assistant coach at UMass Lowell and Wisconsin, Hynes spent six seasons as a head coach with USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program. Three of his U18 teams earned medals in the IIHF U18 championships, including a gold in 2006. He was an assistant coach on the gold-medal USA squad at the 2004 World Junior Championships and was head coach of the 2008 WJC squad.

Named an assistant coach of the Baby Penguins in 2009, he moved up to the head coaching spot a year later.  In 2010-11, he was named AHL Coach of the Year after leading Wilkes Barre/Scranton to its first AHL regular-season championship. That team included former Terriers John Curry and Brian Strait. The WBS Penguins reached the playoffs in all five of Hynes’s seasons as head coach, making two trips to the conference finals.

At today's press conference it was revealed that Hynes was the first and only candidate offered the head coaching job.

● NJ Devils announcement
● NHL.com report
NJ.com report;  injury at BU led to coaching career
Press conference take-aways

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