The Arizona Coyotes partnership with their new AHL affiliate, the Springfield Falcons has officially began as General Manager Don Maloney just announced he has hired a new head coach for the team. Ron Rolston is 48 years old and has plenty of coaching experience under his belt, serving as the main suit behind the bench at many different levels.
Sep 21, 2013; Buffalo, NY, USA; Buffalo Sabres head coach Ron Rolston against the Toronto Maple Leafs at First Niagara Center. Toronto beats Buffalo 3 to 2 in a shootout. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports
Rolston served as the head coach for the Buffalo Sabres for 51 game starting during the 2012-13 season and ending in the 2013-14 earning a record of 19-26-6. Before that, he served as the head coach for the Sabers AHL affiliate the Rochester Americans for two years posting a record of 79-55-13-5, which lead to two consecutive playoff births.
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Before joining the Sabers’ organization Rolston served seven seasons as the head coach of the USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program (NTDP). Under him, the U.S. Under-18 Team won three gold medals (2005, 2009 and 2011), he also lead the team to a silver medal (2007) in four stints at the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).
He has much experience coaching at the college level; he was the assistant coach to Boston College, Harvard University, Clarkson University, and Lake Superior State University. Most of his success at this level however came from Lake Superior State University, where he helped lead the team to two NCAA National Championships (1992 and 1994).
On September 14th, 2014 Rolston joined the Arizona Coyotes Organization as a Pro Scout and has earned plenty of praise from Don Maloney.
"“Ron is an experienced head coach and a great communicator. He has an excellent track record for developing players and we are confident that he is the right coach to lead our top prospects.” -GM Don Maloney"
Although his NHL head coaching career is not one to be desired, he has proven he is skilled at coaching and developing young players. I would hope so as well, next year he might be dealing with Arizona’s top prospects such as Anthony Duclair, Christian Dvorak, Brendan Perlini, Max Domi, and of course, the future prospects from the 2014-15 NHL Entry Draft.
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