Stothers tapped to lead Monarchs

The Manchester Monarchs, the primary affiliate of the 2014 Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings, have named Mike Stothers as the club’s new head coach, Monarchs general manager Rob Blake announced today.

Stothers, 52, replaces Mark Morris, whose contract was not renewed following the 2013-14 American Hockey League season.

Stothers has 30-plus years of professional hockey experience as both a player and coach. He most recently served as head coach of the Moose Jaw Warriors of the Western Hockey League for three seasons (2011-14). He was also head coach of Owen Sound in the Ontario Hockey League from 2002-07.

In the AHL, Stothers spent one season as head coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins in 2007-08, and was an assistant with the Hershey Bears (1994-96) and Philadelphia Phantoms (1996-2000), winning a Calder Cup championship in 1998.

Stothers has also been an assistant in the NHL with Philadelphia (2000-02) and Atlanta (2010-11).

As a player, Stothers, a Toronto-born defenseman who was selected in the first round (21st overall) by the Flyers at the 1980 NHL Draft, played 671 games in the AHL with Maine, Hershey and Newmarket, notching 38 goals and 106 assists for 144 points. His 1,840 career penalty minutes rank him 13th all-time. Stothers won a Calder Cup playing for Maine in 1984