Watson Earns All-Star Coach Honors for Second-Straight Season
Published on December 19, 2025 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release
Grand Rapids Griffins Head Coach Dan Watson
(Grand Rapids Griffins, Credit: Nicolas Carrillo)
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Grand Rapids Griffins head coach Dan Watson has been named the coach for the Central Division at the 2026 AHL All-Star Classic presented by BMO, to be held Feb. 10-11 at the BMO Center in Rockford, Illinois. This marks Watson's second-consecutive all-star nod, as he becomes just the second coach in franchise history to attend two all-star events and the first in its AHL history.
Thanks to Grand Rapids' 6-2 win tonight at the Iowa Wild, the Griffins have clinched the top spot in the division through the end of play on Jan. 11 with a 24-1-0-1 record and 49 points, meriting Watson's selection. The 49 points through 26 games mark the best start in the 90-year history of the AHL. The Griffins have gone 18-0-0-1 against their division rivals this season and have remained the top team since the first game of the campaign.
Prior to last year's selection, Watson was the first Griffins coach to achieve the honor since Todd Nelson in 2017 and the fourth in franchise history to coach in an all-star game, joining Nelson, Jeff Blashill (2014), and Bruce Cassidy (2002 AHL, 2001 IHL). This will mark Watson's fourth-career all-star appearance, as he was chosen to coach in the ECHL All-Star Game in both 2017 and 2022 with the Toledo Walleye.
The 12th head coach in Griffins history, Watson is in his third season with Grand Rapids after leading the team to back-to-back playoff campaigns and a Central Division Finals appearance in 2024. The Glencoe, Ontario, native currently has the Griffins on a 13-game winning streak, which is tied for the second-longest in franchise history. All-time with Grand Rapids since 2023-24, Watson has a 98-53-12-7 regular-season record (.632) and a 5-7 playoff mark (.417).
In addition to leading the Central Division, Watson has the Griffins positioned first in the Western Conference and the entire AHL. Grand Rapids ranks first in the AHL in both goals per game (4.00) and goals against per game (1.85). In addition, the power play ranks seventh at 23.4% and the penalty kill is tied for fifth at 85.1%. The Griffins have an 18-point cushion over Chicago for first place in the Central Division and are 29 points up on a playoff spot.
Prior to joining the Griffins, Watson spent six seasons as head coach of the ECHL's Toledo Walleye from 2016-23, becoming the fastest coach in ECHL history to reach 100 wins and the winningest head coach in Walleye history with a 272-112-22-13 record in the regular season. Watson has never missed the playoffs as head coach, reaching the Calder Cup Playoffs twice, the Kelly Cup Finals twice (2019 and 2022), and leading Toledo to three division titles (2016-17, 2017-18 and 2021-22), three 100-point seasons (2016-17, 2017-18 and 2021-22), two regular season championships (2016-17 and 2021-22), and four Western Conference Finals berths (2017, 2019, 2022 and 2023).
The 2026 AHL All-Star Classic will begin on Tuesday, Feb. 10 with the AHL All-Star Skills Competition followed by the AHL All-Star Challenge on Wednesday, Feb. 11. Rosters for each division will be released at a later date.
Images from this story
 Grand Rapids Griffins Head Coach Dan Watson (Nicolas Carrillo) |
American Hockey League Stories from December 19, 2025
- Condors Grab OT Win in Coachella - Bakersfield Condors
- Gulls Top Wranglers, 4-3, in Overtime - San Diego Gulls
- Rosén Lifts Amerks to Overtime Win Over Belleville - Rochester Americans
- Roadrunners' Rally Falls Short in 4-2 Loss at Abbotsford - Tucson Roadrunners
- The Canucks Defeat the Roadrunners, 4-2 - Abbotsford Canucks
- Griffins Extend Win Streak to 13, Defeat Iowa, 6-2 - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Bojangles Game Preview: December 20 & 21 vs Springfield - Charlotte Checkers
- Bridgeport Evens Season Series - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
- Stars Take Down Admirals in Hard-Fought Contest - Texas Stars
- Senators Settle for One Point in 3-2 Overtime Loss - Belleville Senators
- Wolf Pack Downed 5-3 by Crunch - Hartford Wolf Pack
- Koppanen's Three Points Rally Penguins Past Comets, 4-2 - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Grand Rapids Continues historic run, Defeats Iowa 6-2 - Iowa Wild
- Criscuolo Strikes Twice, Comets Fall 4-2 - Utica Comets
- Crunch Outlast Wolf Pack, 5-3 - Syracuse Crunch
- Terry Leads Islanders to Victory against Phantoms, 5-1 - Bridgeport Islanders
- Watson Earns All-Star Coach Honors for Second-Straight Season - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Barkey Recalled to Flyers, Zamula to Phantoms - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
- Capitals Recall Miroshnichenko, Loan Trineyev to Hershey - Hershey Bears
- San Diego Gulls Assign Tomas Suchanek to Tulsa - San Diego Gulls
- Chad Hillebrand Signed to PTO by Griffins - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Moose Recall Reece Vitelli from Savannah - Manitoba Moose
- Homestand Continues Against Islanders - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
- Condors Open Home-And-Home Series In Coachella - Bakersfield Condors
- St. Louis Blues Assign F Matt Luff to T-Birds - Springfield Thunderbirds
- Blue Jackets Recall Forward Luca Del Bel Belluz from Monsters - Cleveland Monsters
- Utica to Host Rock League January 28-31, 2027 at Adirondack Bank Center - Utica Comets
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.
