Morning Notes: Islanders, Marmer, Global Series

The New York Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport has named Matt MacDonald and Pascal Rhéaume as assistant coaches.

Macdonald, 40, spent the last five seasons as an assistant coach with Detroit’s AHL affiliate, Grand Rapids, where the team posted a 144-137-38 record in 319 games. He also spent six seasons with the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones, serving as head coach and director of hockey operations from 2014 to 2018, achieving a winning record in each of those four years with a total record of 142-116-16-14 and two Kelly Cup Playoff appearances.

Rhéaume, 50, is a former pro-league forward with 318 NHL games under his belt for several teams. He most recently served as assistant coach for the ECHL’s Trois-Rivières Lions for two seasons. Prior to that, he was the head coach of the Val d’Or Foreurs in the QMJHL from 2018 to 2020 and previously held coaching roles with the Sherbrooke Phoenix and Drummondville Voltigeurs. He was also an assistant coach with the AHL’s Iowa Wild in the 2015-16 season. Rhéaume played nearly two decades in the AHL, tallying 408 points in 589 AHL games. He won the 1995 Calder Cup with AHL Albany and the 2003 Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils. Together, they’ll replace the role served by Rick Kowalsky the last two seasons in Bridgeport, who was promoted to head coach this season after the team parted ways with longtime bench boss Brent Thompson.

Elsewhere from around hockey this morning:

• Boston Bruins player development scout Danielle Marmer has been announced as the general manager of the new Boston franchise in the Professional Women’s Hockey League, set to begin play in January. The 2022-23 season was Marmer’s first in an NHL role, previously serving as the director of hockey operations for Quinnipiac University’s women’s program for three seasons.
• Some eyebrows were raised when the NHL announced they’d be heading to Melbourne, Australia, for a pair of preseason games to kick off the 2023 Global Series. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told NHL.com senior writer Dan Rosen today it’s just the beginning of the league venturing into more “unique” destinations after largely limiting their international contests to hockey-saturated European and Scandinavian markets. “I’m not going to throw any country names out there, but there are other places that we’ve yet to bring teams or our game which we think present unique opportunities, and we’re exploring it,” Daly said. “Over time, you will see us staging regular-season games in other European markets. I think we have to be nimble, we have to adjust strategies to demand and continue to grow the property.” He also hopes the NHL’s venture into Australia later this month proves it as a sustainable market that could host future international contests, and already anticipates two sellouts for the preseason contests between the Arizona Coyotes and Los Angeles Kings.