Americans Head Coach Stu Barnes Named U.S. Division Coach of the Year
April 5, 2023 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Tri-City Americans News Release
Kennewick, WA - The Western Hockey League announced today that Tri-City Americans head coach Stu Barnes has been named the U.S. Division's Coach of the Year and is a finalist for the WHL's Coach of the Year award, the Dunc McCallum Memorial trophy.
Barnes, from Spruce Grove, Alta., is in his second season behind the Americans bench after a lengthy coaching and scouting career in the NHL. He has been a co-owner of the Americans franchise since the 2005-06 season.
He guided the Americans to a 34-26-5-3 record during the 2022-23 season, helping Tri-City reach the WHL playoffs for the first time since 2018-19. The 76 points for the Americans was a 32-point increase from last year where the team posted a 19-43-6-0 record.
As a player Barnes spent three seasons with the Americans franchise from 1987-1990 racking up 386 points (148-238-386) in 204 games. His first year was before the franchise moved to Kennewick as they were the New Westminster Bruins during the 1987-88 season. He was drafted fourth overall by the Winnipeg Jets in the 1990 NHL Draft and would go on to play 1,136 NHL games, recording 596 points (261-336-596).
Barnes had two stints as an assistant coach with the Dallas Stars, first from 2008-09 to 2010-11 before returning from 2017-2019. He then served as a pro scout for the Seattle Kraken for two seasons before taking over as the Americans head coach.
The last Americans coach to win the Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy was Jim Hiller in 2011-12, who was also named the Canadian Hockey League's Coach of the Year that season.
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