Todd Reirden has been named the sixth head coach in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins history, it was announced on Wednesday by Pittsburgh Penguins Executive Vice President and General Manager, Ray Shero.
Reirden agreed to a multi-year contract after serving as interim head coach since February 18.
"Todd clearly demonstrated his ability to be an AHL head coach by stepping into a challenging situation at mid-season and doing a terrific job for the Penguins organization," Shero said. "We have been very fortunate to have such outstanding young coaches as Todd Richards and Dan Bylsma in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and we believe that Todd will follow in their footsteps and continue the excellent coaching tradition with our AHL franchise."
Reirden, 37, took over head coaching duties on an interim basis following Dan Bylsma’s promotion to the Pittsburgh Penguins. He guided Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to a 14-9-2-1 record over the final two months of the season and an upset of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in the East Division Semifinals.
A veteran of 183 National Hockey League games, Reirden joined the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton coaching staff as an assistant on August 18, 2008. Prior to that he served as an assistant at his alma mater, Bowling Green State University, for the 2007-08 season.
Selected by New Jersey in the 12th round (242nd overall) of the 1990 NHL Draft, Reirden played professionally for 13 seasons, retiring after the 2006-07 campaign with Graz EC of the Austrian Hockey League.
A native of Deerfield, Ill., Reirden appeared in 183 games with the Edmonton Oilers, St. Louis Blues, Atlanta Thrashers and Phoenix Coyotes between 1998 and 2004, recording 46 points (11+35) and 181 penalty minutes. He played in the AHL with Houston, Springfield, Cincinnati, Worcester, Hamilton and Albany.
