An independent blog on the New York Islanders, the NHL and AHL by a guy from New York.

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Islanders Name John Gruden Assistant Coach



Today The New York Islanders named John Gruden as an Assistant Coach.

Gruden was the Head Coach for the Hamilton Bulldogs of the OHL for the past two years and helped the team win the J. Ross Robertson Cup as OHL Champions last season.  His Hamilton Bulldogs also finished with the best record in the OHL East at 43-18-4-3. Gruden’s coaching record with Hamilton was 76-45-8-7. During the 2015-16 season, Gruden coached the OHL Flint Firebirds.


Gruden has experience as a player in the AHL, IHL, Europe and NHL ranks as well as an assistant with TEAM USA’s National Team Development Program from 2011 through 2015. Gruden helped lead Team USA to gold-medal finishes at both the 2012 and 2014 U18 Men's World Championships. As a player, Gruden represented his country at the 2003 International Ice Hockey Federation Men's World Championship in Helsinki, Tampere and Turku, Finland.


Per Release, “Gruden attended Ferris State University, where he played in 155 games and registered 104 points (40 goals, 64 assists). He became the first NCAA Division I All-American in Ferris State Athletics history in 1993-94. He also was the first player in school history to achieve Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) First-Team honors and finished as the runner-up for the CCHA's Player of the Year Award that same season.”






Per Arthur Staple, “That leaves Scott Gomez and Fred Brathwaite from Doug Weight’s staff last season. Gomez and Lamoriello have a longstanding relationship, so one would believe that there’s a job for Gomez if he wants it. If Mitch Korn comes on as goaltending director, Brathwaite could remain to do the bulk of the on-ice work.

No update on Mark Hunter potentially joining the front office. Chatter around the league has gone remarkably silent on his destination, other than confirming that he does indeed have a new gig lined up and won’t be sitting out much longer.”




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