John Hynes has been named assistant coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League, it was announced today by Pittsburgh Penguins Executive Vice President and General Manager Ray Shero.
Hynes will work under head coach Todd Reirden at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Hynes, 34, has spent the past six seasons as a head coach with USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program, posting an overall record of 216-113-19-9. In 2008-09 he was head coach of the U.S. Under-17 Development Team, going 42-17-6.
Hynes has enjoyed great success on the international stage, leading the U.S. Under-18 national team to three medals at the World Under-18 Championships – gold in 2006, silver in 2004 and bronze in 2008.
He was head coach of the U.S. national team at the 2008 World Junior championships, and was an assistant coach on the 2004 U.S. team that won a gold medal at the World Junior event.
“John is one of the bright young coaches in the game, and we’re excited to have him join the Penguins organization,” Shero said. “We’re confident that Todd Reirden and John Hynes will continue the tradition of development and success in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.”
Hynes played four seasons at Boston University and helped the Terriers to the 1995 national championship. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant to legendary Jack Parker at his alma mater, and also was an assistant at UMass-Lowell and the University of Wisconsin before joining USA Hockey’s development program. He is a native of Warwick, R.I.
