'Blades Welcome Poss as New Head Coach
Published on June 23, 2010 under ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release
ESTERO, FL - Florida Everblades president and general manager Craig Brush proudly announced today Greg Poss has been named as the new head coach of the club. Poss, who spent last season in the ECHL as an assistant coach with the Ontario Reign, was at Germain Arena today for the announcement.
"I'm honored to be the new coach of the Florida Everblades." Poss said. "The Everblades have a first class reputation in the ECHL and I'm real happy to be working with Craig Brush and the entire organization. We're going to work hard to achieve our goals and objectives this year."
Poss, 45, becomes just the fourth head coach in the 13-year history of the Florida Everblades. The Green Bay, Wisconsin native comes to the Everblades organization with an extensive coaching resume. Prior to the 2009-10 season with the Reign, Poss spent eight seasons as a head coach in the German Elite League (DEL) with Iserlohn, Nuremberg and Mannheim.
From 2005-08 Poss served as the bench boss of the Mannheim Eagles and in 2006-07 helped them become the first team in DEL history to finish in first place in the regular season, win the inter-league tournament and capture the league championship in the same year after leading the club to a 35-9-8 record.
"I am very pleased to have Greg become the fourth coach in Everblades history." Brush added. "He is a consummate professional, has had great experience and has won every place he has coached. He has a very strong work ethic and I'm sure he'll be loved by our fans."
Before his stint in Mannheim, Poss spent two seasons from 2003-05 as the bench boss of the Nuremberg Ice Tigers. Overall he led the Ice Tigers to a 67-31-6 mark in 104 games, including posting 34 and 33 win seasons in his two years with the club.
His first coaching experience in the DEL came from 2000-03 with the Iserlohn Roosters where he compiled an overall record of 71-78-23 in 172 games. Poss took over as head coach of the Iserlohn club while the team was in the second division Bundesliga. In his three seasons from 1997-00, Poss helped promote Iserlohn to the DEL by stringing together three consecutive winning seasons.
His first head coaching experience came in Sweden where from 1992-94 he led Olofstroms Hockey Club. Poss' highlight in Sweden came during the 1993-94 campaign when he led Olofstroms to a first place finish for the first time in 24 years.
Poss' coaching resume also includes national team experience. Most recently in 2009 he was an assistant coach with the USA Hockey team finished second in the Deutschland Cup. In 2004 and 2005 Poss was the head coach of the German Senior National Teams that participated in the Deutschland Cup and 2005 World Championships. His international coaching experience began in 2003 as an assistant coach of the USA Hockey team that finished first in the Deutschland Cup then followed that in 2004 as an assistant coach of the USA Hockey team that won bronze in the World Championships in Prague.
As a player Poss played on the professional level for three seasons in the American Hockey League and International Hockey League. In two years from 1989-91 with the Maine Mariners of the AHL Poss tallied 44 points (17g, 27a) and 103 penalty minutes in 109 games. In 1991-92 Poss skated in just 18 games with the Peoria Rivermen of the IHL tallying five points (1g, 4a) and 41 PIM before suffering a career-ending knee injury.
Before advancing to the professional ranks Poss played four seasons at the University of Wisconsin from 1985-1989 where he posted 25 points in 101 games.
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