Kevin Constantine Named Head Coach of Houston Aeros

[VodkaFish]

SAINT PAUL/MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Minnesota Wild President/General Manager Doug Risebrough announced today that Kevin Constantine has been named the new Head Coach of the American Hockey League’s (AHL) Houston Aeros, the Wild’s primary development affiliate.

“A development team requires a leader who will teach the players the game, while at the same time instilling the discipline, accountability and hard work required to play in the NHL for this organization,” said Wild Assistant General Manager/Hockey Operations Tom Lynn, who also serves as Aeros General Manager. “Kevin has a demonstrated record of all of these elements. In addition, he has had success coaching at all levels of hockey, and in particular, in developing younger players.”

Constantine, 48 (12/27/58), has been behind the bench as a head coach for more than 1,000 games, presiding over teams in the United States Hockey League (USHL), International Hockey League (IHL), National Hockey League (NHL) and Western Hockey League (WHL).

A native of International Falls, Minn., Constantine owns a 159-153-66 record as a NHL Head Coach, having spent seven combined seasons with San Jose, Pittsburgh and New Jersey. Two seasons after helping Kansas City claim the International Hockey League’s Turner Cup Championship in 1991-92, Constantine took over a Sharks team that won just 11 games the previous season. Constantine led San Jose to a 33-35-16 record in 1993-94 and a first-round upset of Detroit in the Western Conference Quarterfinals. He was the runner-up to current Wild Head Coach Jacques Lemaire for the Jack Adams Trophy as the NHL’s top coach that season, after the Sharks improved by a league-record 58 points. Constantine is the only NHL coach to ever lead a pair of eight seeds over a No. 1 seed, having led San Jose over Detroit in 1993-94 and repeating the feat when he guided Pittsburgh over New Jersey in 1998-99.

Most recently, Constantine served as Head Coach of the WHL’s Everett Silvertips for the past four seasons. He joined expansion Everett in 2003-04 and led the Silvertips to a 162-106-20 record. Everett won division titles in three of his four seasons and advanced to the WHL Final in its inaugural season, helping Constantine land Coach of the Year honors. In 2006-07, Constantine led the Silvertips to a 54-15-1-2 record and a berth in the Western Conference Semifinals. Among the players under Constantine’s tutelage in Washington have been Ondrej Fiala, the Wild’s second-round pick (No. 40 overall) in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, and Peter Mueller, the eighth-overall pick by Phoenix in 2006.