The Calgary Flames announced that they have hired Ryan Huska as the new head coach of their American Hockey League affiliate, the Adirondack Flames.
Huska, a native of Cranbrook, B.C., has spent the last 12 seasons with the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League, the first five as an assistant coach and the last seven seasons serving as their head coach.
Huska was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in the third round (76th overall) in the 1993 NHL Draft, and played two seasons in the AHL with the Lowell Lock Monsters (1998-99) and Springfield Falcons (1999-2000) during a five-year pro career.
Huska, 38, is one of the most decorated amateur hockey men in Canada with four Memorial Cup championship rings to his name, three times as a player with Kamloops (1992, 1994 and 1995), and once as an assistant coach with Kelowna (2004). Internationally, he has captured a bronze and a silver medal as an assistant coach with Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championships.
Last season Huska guided Kelowna to a division championship with a 57-11-0-4 record, setting a new franchise record with 57 wins. In his seven seasons as head coach, the Rockets did not finish below .500.
