Stars hire John Stevens as assistant coach

FRISCO, Texas --Dallas Stars General Manager Jim Nillannounced today that the club has appointed John Stevensas Assistant Coach. Stevens joins Head CoachJim Montgomery's staff that includes Assistant Coaches Rick Bownessand Todd Nelson, Goaltending Coach Jeff Reese, Video Coach Kelly Forbes, and Assistant Video Coach Matt Rodell.

Stevens, 53, spent the last nine seasons as part of the Los Angeles Kings coaching staff, the last two of which were as Head Coach. He earned a 51-39-9 record in 99 games as Head Coach with the club, including a four-game stint as interim Head Coach during the 2011-12 season. He joined the Kings organization in 2010-11, where he served four seasons as Assistant Coach (2010-14) and three seasons as Associate Coach (2014-17) prior to fully taking over the head job. As a part of the staff, he helped the Kings to Stanley Cup championships in both 2012 and 2014.
Prior to his time with the Kings, he held several roles with the Philadelphia Flyers organization. He served as Head Coach for the Flyers from Oct. 22, 2006 through Dec. 4, 2009, leading the franchise to a 120-109-34 record. During his tenure as head coach, he led the Flyers to the Eastern Conference Final in 2008 and qualified for the playoffs in two of his four full seasons on the bench. Prior to his time as Head Coach, Stevens served as an assistant coach for part of the 2006-07 campaign before being elevated to bench boss. Previous to joining the NHL club, Stevens was the Head Coach of the Philadelphia Phantoms (the Flyers' American Hockey League [AHL] affiliate) for six seasons (2000-01 through 2005-06). His Phantoms made the playoffs four times and won the Calder Cup Championship in 2005. In 2012, he was inducted into the AHL Hall of Fame.
Overall, he has a 171-148-43 record as an NHL head coach during the regular season, as well as a record of 11-16 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

"We are excited to add John to our coaching staff," said Nill. "He has a wealth of experience, both as a head coach and assistant, which Jim Montgomery will be able to tap into. Throughout his career as a coach, he has had both standout offensive and defensive teams, showing the ability to maximize the strengths of whatever roster he is working with."
The native of Campbellton, New Brunswick was originally drafted by Philadelphia in the third round (47th overall) of the 1984 NHL Draft and played parts of five seasons with Philadelphia and Hartford, totaling 10 points (0-10=10) and 48 penalty minutes in 53 NHL regular season games. In 834 career AHL games Stevens, a defenseman, had 188 points (21-167=188), 1,397 penalty minutes and won three Calder Cups: 1988 with Hershey, 1991 with Springfield (team captain) and 1998 with the Phantoms (team captain).
"I've always had a great respect for the way that John has approached the game," said Montgomery. "We were able to win a Calder Cup together in Philadelphia, and he is the best captain and leader that I ever played with. His knowledge of and his experience in this game will make us a better staff and we're excited he is on board."
He and his wife Stacy have two sons, John and Nolan.