McLellan Coaching Staff Named

July 23, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Worcester Sharks News Release


SAN JOSE -- San Jose Sharks Executive Vice President and General Manager Doug Wilson and Head Coach Todd McLellan announced today that Trent Yawney, Todd Richards and Jay Woodcroft will serve as assistant coaches on McLellan's staff. In addition, Corey Schwab has been named as the organization's goaltending development coach. In keeping with club policy, terms of the contracts were not disclosed.

Yawney, 42, most recently spent the 2007-08 season as a scout for the Anaheim Ducks. He also served as Head Coach of Team Canada at the World Under-18 Championships held in Finland, April 11-22, 2007.

"Trent has a vast experience as a player and as a coach," said McLellan. "He's also had some experience as a young head coach in Chicago and I think I will be able to tap into him for his knowledge in certain situations."

A native of Hudson Bay, Sask., Yawney spent 14 seasons with the Blackhawks organization, most recently having served as the 35th head coach in their franchise history from 2005-2007. He posted a 33-55-15 record in just over one season as Chicago's bench boss.

Before coaching the Blackhawks, Yawney served as the head coach for their American Hockey League affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals, for five seasons. Yawney was named the head coach of the Admirals on June 23, 2000, their inaugural season in the AHL. Under Yawney's guidance, Norfolk posted a 189-144-42-25 regular season record over five seasons while winning back-to-back South Division titles in 2001-02 and 2002-03. The Admirals made five consecutive playoff appearances and advanced to the conference semifinals twice while seeing over 50 players advance to the Blackhawks during that span. Yawney was honored by The Hockey News as their 2003-04 "Minor Pro Coach of the Year".

Yawney's coaching experience began during the 1998-99 season. He played in 20 games with the Blackhawks before suffering a broken arm in January. Out for the season due to the injury, Yawney began assisting the Blackhawks coaching staff on an informal basis. Upon being named head coach in February, Lorne Molleken, a sharks assistant coach in 2001-02, formally named Yawney an assistant coach on February 22, 1999.

Yawney played in 593 career NHL games over 12 seasons with Chicago, Calgary and St. Louis. The defenseman collected 129 points (27 goals, 102 assists) along with 783 penalty minutes. He also appeared in 60 postseason contests, helping lead the Blackhawks into the Western Conference Finals in 1989 and 1990. Yawney was named as captain for Team Canada in the 1988 Winter Olympics in Nagano. He was originally drafted by the Blackhawks in the third round (45th overall) of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft.

Yawney was teammates in Chicago with Wilson from 1987-1991 and current Sharks forward Jeremy Roenick from 1988-1991 with the Blackhawks. He was also teammates with McLellan from 1983-1985 with the Western Hockey League's Saskatoon Blades.

Richards, 41, spent the last two seasons as the head coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, the top AHL development affiliate of the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins. During his tenure with Wilkes-Barren/Scranton, Richards coached his teams to a 98-50-5-8 overall record with two Calder Cup playoff appearances, including a trip to the finals last season.



American Hockey League Stories from July 23, 2008


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