AHL notebook: All-Star Classic coaches have vast amount of experience

The American Hockey League does more than develop future on-ice talent for the NHL.

Twenty-two of the current 32 NHL coaches learned their professional craft in the AHL, the top developmental league for the NHL. Included in that group are Jared Bednar of the Colorado Avalanche, Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Peter Laviolette of the Washington Capitals, Mike Sullivan of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and John Tortorella of the Philadelphia Flyers, each of whom has won the Stanley Cup at least once. Bruce Boudreau of the Minnesota Wild and Sheldon Keefe of the Toronto Maple Leafs are also on the list.
The quality of coaching in the AHL will be on display when the AHL All-Star Classic returns from a three-year, coronavirus hiatus Feb. 5-6 at Place Bell in Laval, Quebec.
Each of the AHL's four divisions will be represented in a round-robin 3-on-3 tournament.
The coaches selected to represent each of those divisions are one with NHL experience and three up-and-coming prospects.
Here is a closer look at each of the four coaches:
Neil Graham, Texas (Dallas Stars)
Graham took the Texas job on Dec. 10, 2019, after Derek Laxdal was promoted to be an assistant with the Stars.
It was a quick shift for Graham, who had only been a Texas assistant for two months. But he did bring significant experience from his time with Idaho, the Stars ECHL affiliate. He spent four seasons there and qualified for the Kelly Cup Playoffs each time.
Extremely meticulous and detailed, the 37-year-old has continued that same success in the AHL and helped fine-tune future NHL players in goalie Jake Oettinger and forwards Ty Dellandrea and Jason Robertson.
Texas has a 12-game point streak (10-0-2-0), the longest in the AHL this season, and leads the Central Division.
Mitch Love, Calgary (Calgary Flames)
Love came to the AHL as a highly regarded coach out of the Western Hockey League, and has expanded on that reputation.
Love captured the Louis A.R. Pieri Award as the AHL's outstanding coach last season when the Calgary affiliate was in Stockton, going 45-16-5-2, the best record for a Flames AHL affiliate.
In the Calder Cup Playoffs, Love's team eliminated Bakersfield (Edmonton Oilers) and Colorado (Colorado Avalanche) before taking Chicago, the eventual Calder Cup champion, to six games in the Western Conference final.
The Flames relocated their AHL affiliate to Calgary in the offseason, and it has continued to win. The 38-year-old has Calgary (21-8-1-0) second in the Pacific Division and owns the AHL's third-best point percentage (.717).
Greg Moore, Toronto (Toronto Maple Leafs)
Like Graham, Moore was a midseason addition in 2019-20.
Moore was hired by the Maple Leafs nine days before Graham took the Texas job. In Moore's case, he came from outside of the organization after Keefe replaced Mike Babcock as Maple Leafs coach on Nov. 20, 2019. He had a season-plus with Chicago of the United States Hockey League along with three seasons as a coach in USA Hockey's National Team Development Program.
Like Graham, the COVID-19 pandemic meant an unconventional start to Moore's AHL coaching career. The 2019-20 AHL season was halted and then canceled in May 2020. The 2020-21 season was an abbreviated one, and last season featured schedule disruptions around the league as well.
Despite the upheaval, the 38-year-old Moore has settled in with Toronto and has his team atop the North Division with a 20-9-1-1 record.
Todd Nelson, Hershey (Washington Capitals)
The 53-year-old has one of the most extensive resumes for any coach outside of the NHL.
He has time as an interim coach and assistant coach with the Edmonton Oilers. His resume also features a four-season tenure as an assistant coach with the Dallas Stars along with two seasons as an assistant coach with the Atlanta Thrashers.
Along the way in a coaching career that began with a player-assistant role in the United Hockey League in 2001-02, Nelson found success quickly and won two championships in that league with Muskegon. From there he won the Calder Cup as an assistant coach with Chicago in 2008 and took Grand Rapids (Detroit Red Wings) to the 2017 Calder Cup championship.
He also won the Calder Cup as a playmaking defenseman in the Capitals organization with Portland in 1994, making him only the third person in AHL history to win the title as a player, assistant coach, and coach.
He came close to the Stanley Cup as well when Dallas reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2020, losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Nelson has brought that winning history with him to Hershey, where his team leads the AHL with 47 points and is second in point percentage (.734) with a 22-7-2-1 record.