The Anaheim Ducks have hired two new assistant coaches for the 2017-18 season. Steve Konowalchuk and Mark Morrison will be joining the team, replacing at least Paul MacLean who left the team earlier this month. Konowalchuk’s name in particular was mentioned in one of the past PHR Live Chats as a potential NHL option this season after his outstanding year in the WHL.
The 44-year old former NHL winger led the Seattle Thunderbirds to the WHL finals for the second straight year, this time winning the championship and a berth in the Memorial Cup. Taking the team to the WHL playoffs five out of six years, he’s a real up-and-coming head coach that could easily be considered for an NHL job before long. His previous experience behind an NHL bench is limited to two years in Colorado under Joe Sacco.
Morrison on the other hand has been working in the AHL for several years, an assistant mostly under Keith McCambridge in both St. John’s and Manitoba. McCambridge was just promoted to head coach of the Hartford Wolf Pack, but Morrison will jump up to the NHL instead. In his playing days, Morrison spent most of his career playing for the Fife Flyers of the then-named British Hockey League and British National League, once even scoring 189 points in just 57 games. Amazingly, that isn’t even the record for the club but Morrison was a legend in English hockey all the same.