San Jose's Roy Sommer Becomes Winningest Head Coach in American Hockey League History

February 11, 2016 - American Hockey League (AHL) News Release

San Jose Barracuda Coach Roy Sommer
()

Sommer's Barracuda defeated the Ontario Reign, 4-2, at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif.

With win No. 637, Sommer has surpassed Fred "Bun" Cook, a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and AHL Hall of Fame who won 636 games during his 19 seasons leading the Providence Reds and Cleveland Barons from 1937 to 1956.

Cook had spent more than 72 years at the top of the leaderboard, since moving alone into first place with his 153rd win on Nov. 13, 1943.

Sommer, 58, is in his 18th season in the AHL, a tenure spent entirely in the San Jose Sharks organization. The Oakland, Calif., native was named to the position on May 28, 1998, and has guided the Kentucky Thoroughblades (1998-2001), Cleveland Barons (2001-06), Worcester Sharks (2006-15) and Barracuda (2015- ) over 1,388 games - also a league record.

In the AHL, Sommer has coached 120 players who have gone on to play in the National Hockey League, a list that includes Logan Couture, Joe Pavelski, Dan Boyle, Christian Ehrhoff, Brad Boyes, Josh Gorges, Steve Bernier, Torrey Mitchell, Thomas Greiss, Jason Demers, Andrew Desjardins, Jamie McGinn, Alex Stalock, Justin Braun, Tommy Wingels, Miikka Kiprusoff, Evgeni Nabokov, Jonathan Cheechoo, Ryane Clowe and Douglas Murray.

Prior to being named the Sharks' AHL head coach, Sommer spent the 1997-98 season as an NHL assistant coach under Darryl Sutter in San Jose. Sommer played 10 seasons of professional hockey after being drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1977, scoring a goal in his NHL debut with Edmonton in 1981 and winning a Calder Cup with the Maine Mariners in 1984.

Career AHL head coaching wins:

1. x-Roy Sommer, 637

2. Bun Cook, 636

3. Frank Mathers, 610

4. John Paddock, 589

5. x-John Anderson, 413

6. x-Randy Cunneyworth, 373

7. x-Mark Morris, 363

8. Terry Reardon, 362

9. Robbie Ftorek, 353

10. x-Ken Gernander, 347

x-active

San Jose Barracuda Coach Roy Sommer

American Hockey League Stories from February 11, 2016

• Monsters Top Wolves 5-0 for Fourth Straight Win - Cleveland Monsters
• Wolves Shut out by Monsters - Chicago Wolves
• Spend Valentine's Day with the IceHogs - Rockford IceHogs
• Rampage Reassign Mason Geertsen to Komets - San Antonio Rampage
• Tampa Bay Lightning Recall Defenseman Slater Koekkoek from Syracuse Crunch - Syracuse Crunch
• Admirals Return Home Friday & Sunday - Milwaukee Admirals
• Goaltender Peter Budaj and Defenseman Kevin Gravel Earn Promotion to Kings - Ontario Reign
• Griffins Welcome New Staff Member - Grand Rapids Griffins
• Heat Recall Heard from Adirondack - Stockton Heat
• Rockford IceHogs and BMO Harris Bank Center Unite for a Common Cause - Rockford IceHogs
• Wolf Pack's Megna: Raising the Ceiling - Hartford Wolf Pack
• Stolarz Returned to Phantoms, Ouellette Returned to Reading - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
• Checkers' Annual Pink in the Rink this Weekend - Charlotte Checkers
• Red Wings Assign Andersson, Griffins Sign Chouinard to PTO - Grand Rapids Griffins
• Thrower Reassigned to Brampton - St. John's IceCaps
• Reign Close Three-Game Series with Barracuda Tonight in San Jose - Ontario Reign
• SJ Barracuda Head Coach Roy Sommer Picks up AHL Record 637th Career Victory - San Jose Barracuda
• Condors Outlast Gulls, 4-2 - San Diego Gulls
• Manitoba Moose Post-Game Report - Manitoba vs. Texas - February 10 - Manitoba Moose
• Reign Fight Back; Fall to San Jose 4-2 - Ontario Reign
• San Jose's Roy Sommer Becomes Winningest Head Coach in American Hockey League History - AHL
• Klinkhammer Scores Twice in Condors 4-2 Win in San Diego - Bakersfield Condors
• Hats off for Taylor Leier in Blowout Win - Lehigh Valley Phantoms

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.