Seals Coach San Antonio Bound
April 2, 2003 - SPHL (SPHL)
Florida Seals News Release
ORLANDO â Less than a week after leading the Orlando Seals to the Atlantic Coast Hockey League championship, rookie coach Stan Drulia will go behind the bench as interim assistant coach of the San Antonio Rampage, the American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL's Florida Panthers.
"This is a great opportunity for me and for the ACHL, which is trying to establish itself as a developmental league for players and coaches," said Drulia, who guided the Seals to a 43(2)-16 record to win the regular-season title before sweeping the playoffs 6-0 for the ACHL's President's Cup. "I'm looking forward to coaching at the next level, but don't think I've forgotten how unbelievable this season has been with the Seals. I'm so proud of how much we were able to accomplish this year.
The former Tampa Bay Lightning forward will join Rampage interim head coach Scott Allen, who took over the team when Head Coach and General Manager John Torchetti was promoted to Panthers assistant last month. Drulia, 35, of Fort Erie, Ontario, played under Torchetti in 1998 when he was GM of the Detroit Vipers of the now-defunct International Hockey League and again in 2001 as an associate coach of the Lightning.
"It's nice to add another quality person to the Rampage/Panther family," Panthers GM Rick Dudley said. "Stan has been successful in every aspect of his professional hockey endeavors, including guiding this year's Orlando Seals to the Atlantic Coast League's Championship. We anticipate that he and Scott Allen will complement each other's talents and propel the Rampage deep into the AHL playoffs. Ideally we'd like to see Stan be a part of two championships in one season."
Drulia will fly to San Antonio on Thursday to meet the team for practice before the Rampage (34-27-11-4 West) head to Houston on Friday to play the Aeros (45-22-7-3 West) at 7:30 p.m. San Antonio has clinched a berth in the Calder Cup Playoffs and currently holds the sixth playoff spot in the Western Conference with four games to play. For more information on the San Antonio Rampage, visit www.sarampage.com.
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