Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Options Author
Staying versatile is at all times a key requirement within the AHL.
Even should you’ve acquired among the finest information within the league.
The Calgary Wranglers acquired that reminder final week once they misplaced head coach Trent Cull to the dad or mum Flames.
With Brad Larsen being granted private go away resulting from household causes, Cull was named an interim assistant coach with the NHL membership “for the foreseeable future.” Joe Cirella, in his seventh season as an assistant for Calgary’s AHL affiliate, has taken over because the Wranglers’ interim head coach. And to spherical out the strikes, Martin Gelinas is shifting from the event employees to fill in as an assistant to Cirella alongside Brett Sutter.
The Wranglers are the third AHL group to face a head-coaching change this season, following Utica and Rockford.
Along with the teaching shuffle, Calgary is with out defenseman Jonathan Aspirot, who’s enjoying for the Canadian Nationwide Workforce on the Spengler Cup match in Switzerland, whereas forwards Walker Duehr and Jakob Pelletier have been recalled by the Flames popping out of the Christmas break.
At 20-9-1-0, Calgary has a league-best 41 factors with a .683 factors proportion second solely to Toronto’s (16-5-2-3, .712). However the Wranglers have hit the primary little bit of turbulence of their schedule this season, dropping 4 of their final 5 video games earlier than the vacation. Final Sunday’s 3-0 loss to last-place Henderson was the first time that the Wranglers have been shut out this season, and the Silver Knights at the moment are the lone visiting AHL group to have gained twice at Scotiabank Saddledome this season.
Luckily for the Wranglers, the lengthy break allowed them a little bit of time to reset; they don’t resume their schedule till Monday, when Abbotsford involves city. A match-up with the archrival Canucks ought to mitigate any post-holiday rust.
It’ll even be the top teaching debut of the 61-year-old Cirella, who has been an assistant within the AHL, NHL and Ontario Hockey League for 23 seasons. Earlier than that, he was the fifth general decide within the 1981 NHL Draft and went on to play 828 video games as a defenseman throughout 15 NHL seasons.
“With Trent going up, it’s only a matter of serving to out the group any means we are able to,” Cirella told WranglersTV after Sunday’s recreation.
Having Cirella step in for Cull ought to guarantee a way of familiarity for the Wranglers. Over his seven seasons, the Wranglers and the Stockton Warmth have been very productive in creating expertise for the Flames, with the likes of Dustin Wolf, Oliver Kylington, Matt Coronato, Ryan Lomberg, Martin Pospisil, Andrew Mangiapane, Justin Kirkland and Connor Zary graduating to the NHL.
“Hopefully we are able to proceed to develop the children like we have now been,” Cirella mentioned, “and make them higher gamers for our dad or mum membership.”
On the American Hockey League beat for twenty years, TheAHL.com options author Patrick Williams additionally at the moment covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is an everyday contributor on SiriusXM NHL Community Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his excellent protection of the league in 2016.
