After being linked to Todd Richards, Mike Yeo and Dave Cameron the past couple of weeks, the Detroit Red Wings have made their second assistant coaching hire in the form of former Wild interim head coach John Torchetti.
UPDATE: #RedWings EVP & GM Ken Holland announced today that the team has hired John Torchetti as an assistant coach. pic.twitter.com/wVl0ybANv6
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) June 9, 2016
Last season after Yeo was fired on February 14th, the Wild were 23-22-10 losing 13 of their last 14 games. Under Torchetti, the Wild went 15-11-1 scoring 2.9 goals per game in the stretch, righting the ship similar to how they did the previous season with a goalie change in the form of Devan Dubnyk. Their six-game win streak in March helped them clinch a playoff spot and draw the Dallas Stars in the first round, a series they played without star forward Zach Parise. The team managed to put up a good fight against the highest-scoring team in the League, losing in six games.
“Everybody’s going to work for their minutes. And we have to play a certain brand of hockey, so I had to make sure that we talk about leadership every day. Accountability every day. And our work ethic every day. And battles. Most teams, if you’re not winning, you’re not battling.”
-John Torchetti
With the success the team had, Torchetti was widely expected to be back, but with the availability of Bruce Boudreau (409 NHL wins, .659 winning %), the team decided to pursue a man with more experience and success at the NHL level. That opened up Torchetti’s availability, and the Red Wings came calling.
Red Wings complete revamping of assistant coaching staff by adding John Torchetti to run Fs & PP. Doug Houda D & PK, Jeff Salajko goalies.
— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) June 9, 2016
With Doug Houda brought in to work the penalty kill and defense, Torchetti was expected to and will take on the role of handling the forwards and power play. The Wings likely went with the experience card, as the now 51-year old Boston, MA native has spent 11 seasons as an assistant at the ECHL, IHL, and NHL level, winning a Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks in 2010. In the NHL, the teams he served as an assistant for ranked in the top-15 in the League on the power play four times. He also brings head coaching experience from the CHL, QMJHL, IHL, AHL, KHL, and NHL into his new role, tallying more than 800 contests coached, winning nearly 400. In the KHL, he coached CSKA Moscow, the team where Sergei Fedorov is the General Manager.
Torchetti previously played ten seasons in the QMJHL, ACHL, AAHL, ECHL, and AHL.
Stats courtesy of HockeyDB, NHL.com, ESPN.com and HockeyReference
Quote courtesy of StarTribune
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