Ice Tabs Ken McRae as New Head Coach
May 9, 2002 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Indianapolis Ice News Release
INDIANAPOLIS, IN-- The Indianapolis Ice announced today that Ken McRae will become the new head coach and director of player personnel of the club.
McRae, 34, will be making his head coaching debut with the Ice, but is no stranger to the coaching field. He has spent the last three seasons as the assistant coach for the Austin IceBats and the previous year as an assistant with the Houston Aeros of the former IHL.
McRae was part of an IceBats squad this past season that reached the President's Cup Finals and during his three years as a member of the organization the team recorded a record of 128-60-18. His lone year in Houston was rewarding as well as the Aeros were the 1999 Turner Cup Champions.
"I have been waiting for this opportunity for four years," said McRae. "I would like to thank the ownership group and general manager Larry Linde for giving me the chance."
The native of Finch, Ontario has an extensive playing background that includes ten professional seasons in the NHL, AHL and IHL. He was a former first round NHL Draft Pick of the Quebec Nordiques (18th overall) in the 1986 NHL Entry Draft and played 137 games in the NHL spending time with the Nordiques and Toronto Maple Leafs.
He compiled 35 points (14G, 21A) and 364 penalty minutes for his NHL career and was former teammates with current NHL Hall of Famers Guy Lafleur and Peter Stastny and future Hall of Famers Joe Sakic and Doug Gilmour.
"There were numerous, quality candidates, but in our opinion Ken represented the whole package, " said Ice General Manager Larry Linde. "Not only has he proven to be a leader and a winner, he is also a quality individual. He has earned this opportunity and we are excited to have him."
Overall, he played 649 career games professionally and registered "power forward" type numbers which included 488 points (196G, 292A) and 1,711 penalty minutes. His playing career was cut short in 1998 following a solid season with the Houston Aeros due to several cases of blood clotting.
"As a player, I considered myself to be a character guy, " said McRae. I was a hard-nosed, aggressive player who scored and earned some minutes in the penalty box, but who always tried to be disciplined as well. "As a coach, I would like to surround myself with a bunch of character guys who give it their all every night. Positive results usually occur when a team has a good mix of character guys."
Away from the rink, McRae is married to wife, Angela and the couple have a three-year-old son named Justin and are expecting a second child sometime in August.
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Central Hockey League Stories from May 9, 2002
- McRae takes over at Indy - Austin Ice Bats
- Ice Tabs Ken McRae as New Head Coach - Indianapolis Ice
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