Patrick WilliamsTheeahl.com contains a writer
Derek King Will admit that before he became the 29th head coach of the franchise this week, he had minimal connections with the Hershey Bears.
But at least King knew from a distance what Hershey represents.
“I feel that this is the 33rd NHL team,” said King, “and it is like an original six team. I am very excited and honored that they think I can take course and run with it.
King also comes to Hershey with three important relationships that everyone will bring far with Bears fans. Vice President of Hockey Operations Bryan HelmerShort a teammate with the St. Louis Blues, saw him as an ideal fit. Former Beren Head Coach Todd Nelson Had King as a player/assistant coach in Grand Rapids. And former bear captain Garrett Mitchell Played for King with the Rockford Icehogs. In fact, it was Mitchell, a favorite with the Bears fan for his gritty, passionate game, whose praise helped Hershey to encourage King to request the coaching vacancy this summer.
So although fans of King and Bears are largely unknown to each other, the common links are a meaningful first step for both parties. What fans know is that they get a head coach who played for people Al Arbor” Paul Maurice” Pat Quinn And Joel Quenneville Before getting your way to coaching. He spent nine seasons in the Blackhawks organization, as an assistant and head coach in Rockford and later as an interim head coach and later assistant in Chicago. He also spent six years as an assistant at the Toronto Marlies.
When the Hershey post became available after Nelson left for Pittsburgh in June, King sent an SMS to Mitchell. With Mitchell’s encouragement, King contacted Helmer and the selection process began to unfold. Helmer and Washington Capitals Management began to search a long list of candidates, and when King’s candidacy began to win, he spoke with Caps General Manager Chris Patrickhead coach Spencer Carbery and director of hockey activities Jason Fitzsimmons.
Hershey’s last three head coaches – Carbery, Capitals Assistant Scott AllenAnd Nelson – all keep NHL jobs now. The proven ability of the organization to graduate coaches at the NHL meant that King was confronted with a strong candidate -pool.
“It’s not easy,” acknowledged King. “There are many good candidates.”
But soon a comfort level began to hold when the two parties talked further.
“I felt very comfortable to talk to these guys,” said King. ‘How comfortable they make you feel. There is no tip toe. Nobody looks at you, staring at you like: ‘Who is this guy? ‘Everyone has open arms that welcome everyone. “
Wednesday’s media conference to introduce King had a few different moods. Together with that to know that you have the feeling, it also marked something of the next step for the bears while they prepared for the 21st season of an affiliation with Washington who produced five Calder Cup championships.
Many of the core of the clubs that the Calder Cup won in 2023 and 2024 have been spread to various points around hockey. King’s Bears will be young and hungry, which should fit well with the reputation of the coach for his communication skills, open attitude and player -friendly approach.
“The big thing here for me is that I am an honest guy,” said King. “I am honest. I have an open door policy. I expect players to work hard and be humble.”
King has gained a lot of experience with young players in Rockford and Chicago. The capitals and bears needed a leader with strong educational skills and a steady hand. They also ensure some continuity by bringing assistant coaches back Nick Bootland And Patrick Wellar -something that Helmer regards a happy break, because he expected that they could have both possibilities to land their own head coaching jobs.
“We thought Derek was that guy who could just fit in and took over from Todd Nelson,” Helmer explained. “I think he fits exactly in it.”
While De Beren will cycle in a new group of prospects in October, there will be a constant in Hershey: fans want a competition.
“That was one thing that we immediately told Derek,” Helmer told. “The pressure will be here and our fans expect that we win the Calder Cup every year.”
King is ok with that kind of pressure and even doubled those expectations.
“Of course success has been here,” said King. “I don’t come in to throw elbows and change everything. I am here to keep building to get even better. I’m going to treat this as if it were an NHL team.”
“I know the bears have won (the Calder Cup), and that’s great. But now it’s time to win it again.”
During the American Hockey League -Beat for two decades, Theahl.com Writer Patrick Williams currently also contains the competition for NHL.com and Flosports and makes a regular contribution to SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his excellent reporting about the competition in 2016.
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