The Philadelphia Flyers reached an agreement on a one-year contract extension with Head Coach John Stevens, according to club General Manager Paul Holmgren.
“John (Stevens) has built strong relationships with many of our young players as well as with the players that joined us over the summer,” said Holmgren in making the announcement. “We believe that he is the right coach to lead our team in a positive direction.”
"Obviously, I am very excited,” said Stevens. “I have a great relationship with Paul Holmgren and I am thrilled with the opportunity to continue to work with Mr. Snider and Peter Luukko. They have the team going in a real positive direction. They have a long history of winning here and I am excited to be a part of that moving forward.”
Stevens, 41, is in his first full season as the club’s head coach after being promoted from assistant coach on October 22, 2006. He has a 37-55-14 record in 106 career NHL games coached. He is the 16th head coach in Flyers history and the fourth former Flyer to be named the team’s head coach. He was named assistant coach of the Flyers on June 5, 2006.
Prior to joining the Flyers’ coaching staff, he was the head coach of the Flyers’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Philadelphia Phantoms, for six seasons (2000-01 through 2005-06) and led the team to the Calder Cup Championship in 2005. Stevens’ career AHL coaching record is 230-181-33-25 in 480 regular season games, not including 11 shootout losses. He has a 29-19 record in 48 career AHL playoff games. Stevens was named the second-ever head coach of the Phantoms on June 8, 2000. His 480 games coached and 230 career wins are the most in Phantoms history. He was named an assistant coach for the Phantoms on February 10, 1999, after announcing his retirement from hockey due to an eye injury.
A native of Campbellton, New Brunswick, Stevens played 15 seasons of professional hockey as a defenseman (1984-85 to 1998-99), including 53 career NHL games with the Flyers and Hartford Whalers. Over parts of five seasons (1986-87 and 1987-88 with the Flyers and 1990-91, 1991-92 and 1993-94 with Hartford), Stevens recorded 10 assists and 48 penalty minutes in 53 games. He was a member of three Calder Cup Championship teams as a player (Hershey - 1988, Springfield - 1991 and Philadelphia - 1998) and won the Barry Ashbee Award as the Phantoms’ top defenseman for the 1996-97 season. He was named the Phantoms’ first-ever captain on October 1, 1996. Stevens was originally drafted by the Flyers in the third round (47th overall) of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft.
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