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RiverHawks Announce Head Coach Brad Ralph to Return

April 28, 2011 - SPHL (SPHL)
Augusta RiverHawks News Release


The Augusta RiverHawks Hockey Club has announced that they have agreed to terms with Head Coach Brad Ralph for the 2011-12 season. Ralph is the Southern Professional Hockey League's reigning Coach of the Year, an honor awarded to him following his first season coaching professional hockey in the RiverHawks' inaugural season.

"We are extremely pleased to have Brad behind the bench for another season," said RiverHawks General Manager Mark Richards. "His achievements this season were remarkable for any coach, let alone one in his first season of coaching professionals. Anytime you can retain the league's Coach of the Year, it's a great start to the off-season."

Ralph earned the award by leading the league's expansion franchise to a second-place finish in the 2010-11 regular season, followed by a playoff run to the President's Cup Championship where they lost to the Mississippi Surge.

"I am very excited to have the opportunity to come back to the CSRA and the RiverHawks for the 2011-12 season," said Ralph. "I feel that we have a great opportunity to build upon a successful first season, and continue to put a team together that our great fans can be proud of. The entire organization did a great job this year, and I look forward to being a part of it for the coming year."

Being an expansion team, Ralph had to build the hockey operations and the team roster from scratch. His first order of business was signing his eventual captain, Matt Auffrey to the team. Auffrey went on to be named the SPHL Most Valuable Player.

Despite forming the league's youngest and most inexperienced team, the RiverHawks improved dramatically as the season went along under Ralph's tutelage. The second-half of the season saw the team turn into a power house, stringing together separate eight and eleven game winning streaks as they moved up the standings, finishing just a point out of first place.

Ralph, 30, had a notable professional playing career that was highlighted by his leadership abilities. He was a second round draft pick of the National Hockey League's Phoenix Coyotes and played in one game for the club. He had an eight-year professional career, playing 66 games in the American Hockey League. The rest of his career was spent in the ECHL with Mississippi, Augusta, Dayton, Columbia, and Charlotte.

Ralph demonstrated premier leadership abilities throughout his career. This culminated in him being named Captain of the Augusta Lynx and then Player-Assistant Coach with the Columbia Inferno where he gained experience in team preparation and management.

Season tickets are on sale for the 2011-12 season and are available through the RiverHawks' front office at 706-993-2645. Information on the team is available at www.augustariverhawks.com.



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