Florida Panthers Executive Vice President & General Manager Dale Tallon announced today that Peter Horachek has been named the club’s new interim head coach.
In addition, the team announced that both Brian Skrudland and John Madden will join the Panthers staff as assistant coaches.
“Peter is a bright hockey mind who brings to our club a wealth of coaching knowledge,” said Tallon. “He is a focused, determined and demanding coach who has experienced great success at all levels of competition.”
Horachek, 53, becomes Florida’s 12th head coach in franchise history after most recently serving as the head coach of Florida’s American Hockey League affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage, where he had led the Rampage to a 4-6-0-1 record in 2013-14.
Prior to working in San Antonio, Horacheck spent nine seasons with the Nashville Predators, serving his last two years as associate head coach. While working for the Predators, he helped the club advance to the postseason on seven occasions.
Horachek has also served as the head coach for the American Hockey League’s Milwaukee Admirals (2002-03).
Skrudland, a veteran of 15 NHL seasons as a player, won the Jack Butterfield Trophy as the most valuable player of the Calder Cup Playoffs in 1984-85, winning a championship with the Sherbrooke Canadiens.
Madden, who played nearly 900 games in the NHL, was an American Hockey League All-Star with the Albany River Rats in 1998-99.
