Former ECHL Coach Noel Named Blue Jackets Assistant Coach
Published on June 28, 2007 under ECHL (ECHL) News Release
PRINCETON, N.J. - The Columbus Blue Jackets of the National
Hockey League announced that they have named former ECHL coach Claude Noel
as an assistant coach.
The American Conference champion Dayton Bombers are the ECHL affiliate of
the Blue Jackets of the NHL and the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey
League.
In addition to Noel there are 10 assistant coaches in the NHL who have
ECHL experience with Dave Farrish of the Stanley Cup champion Anaheim
Ducks, Jim Playfair of the Calgary Flames, Brian McCutcheon of the Buffalo
Sabres, Charlie Huddy of the Edmonton Oilers, Barry Smith of the Vancouver
Canucks, Peter Horachek of the Nashville Predators, John Torchetti and Ryan
Stewart of the Chicago Blackhawks, Jamie Kompon of the Los Angeles Kings
and Daniel Lacroix of the New York Islanders.
In 2002-03, Noel led Toledo to a 47-15-10 record and the Brabham Cup,
awarded annually to the ECHL team with the most regular season points, one
year after Toledo finished last in the Northwest Division with a 28-34-10
record. The Storm's 38-point increase from 2001-02 to 2002-03 was the
fifth-largest in league history at the time and remains the 10th-largest
ever. Toledo set a team record with 29 home wins while its 104 points tied
the team record for most points as Noel was selected by his peers to be a
Co-Coach for the Northern Conference in the 2003 ECHL All-Star Game won by
the Northern Conference. He began his career in the ECHL as head coach of
the Roanoke Valley Rebels in the ECHL in 1990-91 and was head coach of the
Dayton Bombers in the ECHL from 1991-93.
He is the only coach to be named Coach of the Year in both the ECHL
(2002-03) and the American Hockey League (2003-04). In his first season in
Milwaukee he led the Admirals to the league's best regular season record
and the Calder Cup, the only championship in team history.
The AHL Coach of the Year award has been won by former ECHL coaches six
times beginning in 1999 with former Wheeling and current Carolina
Hurricanes head coach Peter Laviolette and continuing in 2007 with former
Atlantic City and Trenton coach Mike Haviland. The award was won by ECHL
coaches four years in a row from 2001-04 with Noel (2004), Geoff Ward
(2003), Bruce Cassidy (2002) and Don Granato (2001).
There are 15 assistant coaches in the AHL who have ECHL experience with
Scott Allen of Quad City, Pat Bingham of Bridgeport, Dan Bylsma of
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, David Cunniff of Worcester, J.J. Daigneault of
Hartford, Kevin Dean of Lowell, Ted Dent of Norfolk, Gord Dineen of
Portland, Neil Little of Philadelphia, Moe Mantha of Rochester, Davis Payne
of Peoria, Kjell Samuelsson of Philadelphia, Matt Shaw of Houston and Bob
Woods of Hershey while Scott White is director of hockey operations for
Iowa.
There are 10 head coaches in the AHL who have ECHL experience with Dave
Allison of Iowa, Dave Baseggio of Peoria, Bruce Boudreau of Hershey, Jack
Capuano of Bridgeport, Kevin Dineen of Portland, Scott Gordon of
Providence, Mike Haviland of Norfolk, Kurt Kleinendorst of Lowell, Roy
Sommer of Worcester and Geoff Ward of Springfield.
There have been
329 former ECHL players who have gone on to play in the NHL after
playing in the ECHL, including a record 47 in 2005-06 and 26 in 2006-07.
There have been 184 former ECHL players who have played their first game in
the NHL in the past five seasons and 107 former ECHL players have skated in
the NHL this season. More than 100 players under contract to NHL teams have
played in the ECHL this season.
The ECHL is represented for the seventh consecutive year on the National
Hockey League championship team in 2007 with Anaheim assistant coach Dave
Farrish, players Francois Beauchemin and George Parros and broadcasters
John Ahlers and Steve Carroll.
ECHL
The league officially changed its name to ECHL on May 19, 2003.
ECHL began in 1988-89 with five teams in three states and has grown to be a
coast-to-coast league that will have 25 teams playing in 17 states and
British Columbia in 2007-08, including the Mississippi (Biloxi) Sea Wolves,
who return after missing two seasons in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Opening Day for the 20th Anniversary Season will be Oct. 18 when the
Johnstown Chiefs host the Wheeling Nailers at Cambria County War Memorial.
The game is a rematch of Game 7 from the first-ever ECHL Finals played in
front of a standing-room-only crowd at Cambria County War Memorial. The two
teams will wear throwback jerseys for the Opening Day game that begins at
7:30 p.m. ET and will be broadcast worldwide on B2 Networks, the
"Official Broadband Broadcast Provider of the ECHL". The remaining teams
will open their seasons the weekend of Oct. 19-21.
Further information on the ECHL is available from its website at ECHL.com.
ECHL Stories from June 28, 2007
- Chiefs Agree To Terms With Desrochers - Johnstown Chiefs
- Kyrzakos Agrees To Return To RoadRunners - Phoenix RoadRunners
- Former ECHL Coach Noel Named Blue Jackets Assistant Coach - ECHL
- Leading Scorer Returns to Inferno - Columbia Inferno
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
