The Avs will find themselves once more looking for another assistant coach after this season, as David Quinn has been hired to coach the Boston University Terriers next season. (He will finish out this year with the Avs.) The Avs put together a nice article on Quinn’s hockey career thus far here, along with a couple of quotes about his new job. I think that Quinn has done a really good job in the Avalanche organization, first in his time with the Lake Erie Monsters, and now this season as an assistant. I’m sure he’ll be very successful at BU, and wish him all the best.

However, this once again puts the Avs in the position of needing a new assistant coach. In 2011, Steve Konawalchuk left the team in order to become the head coach of the Colorado Avalanche. At that time, Adam Deadmarsh was promoted from video coach to assistant coach. In the past offseason, the Avs lost both assistant coaches, as Sylvain Lefebvre left to become the head coach of the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL, and Adam Deadmarsh was reassigned to be a player development coach (Deadmarsh’s career ended due to concussion problems, and he found that headaches began to return when he was an assistant coach). Now, the Avs will lose Quinn to BU. When one also considers that Joe Sacco should be could very well be fired before next season, the Avs will have two holes to fill on the coaching staff once more. The question is, who might be available for the job?

The Avs love to hire from within, so I think it’s important to look at those names first.

• Scott Masters-the Avs current video coach might be a candidate for a promotion, as both Deadmarsh and Tim Army found themselves transitioned from video coach to assistant coach (Deadmarsh after two seasons, Army after one).
• Dean Chynoweth-Both Joe Sacco and David Quinn were originally head coach of the Lake Erie Monsters. Chynoweth has only been around for a season though, so the organization might want to let him develop further.
• David Oliver-Currently Lake Erie’s assistant coach and director of AHL operations, Oliver has been involved with the Monsters since their inaugural season of 2007-2008, and has been the Avs director of AHL operations for two years now.

There’s also an outside chance that the Avs might look to former players to join the coaching staff. I know that Adam Foote has spent time coaching a junior team here in Colorado, and he might be interested in rejoining the Avs organization in a coaching capacity. As always, hope abounds that Patrick Roy will be hired as a head coach of the team, but I think that’s unlikely, as much as it pains me to say. I know that Mark Rycroft works as an analyst for the team currently, and I don’t know if he’s interested, but I think he could make a hell of a video coach.

If the Avs were to look outside of the organization for once, I think that Guy Boucher, recently fired from the Tampa Bay Lightning could make a nice fit. However, I don’t think he would be willing to join the Avs unless they made him the head coach.

There will be a new face behind the bench this year in Cleveland after former head coach David Quinn was picked by the Colorado Avalanche to be one of their new assistant coaches. Quinn leaves the Monsters organization after three years, only one of which lead to a post season appearance. This vacancy let to the hiring of former New York Islanders Assistant coach Dean Chynoweth.

Chynoweth, a native of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, spent thirteen years as a player across four leagues. He played for the Boston Bruins and the New York Islanders in the NHL and their respective farm systems as well. After his career on the ice concluded he moved behind the bench to continue his involvement in hockey. His first stop was with the Utah Grizzlies of the IHL as an assistant coach. After two seasons in Utah, Chynoweth made the step into the head coaching role with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League in 2000. Coach Chynoweth would spend four seasons with the Thunderbirds before heading to the Swift Current Broncos also of the WHL. In addition to being head coach in Swift Current, Chynoweth was also the General Manager of the club for his five years. During his tenure with Swift Current posted 162 wins. Each year saw a post season appearance of Chynoweth’s Broncos. 2009 saw Chynoweth get the call up himself to an NHL club. The New York Islanders brought him in to be an assistant coach under Scott Gordon and then later Jack Capuano.

This leads us to June of 2012, when Dean Chynoweth was announced as the third head coach in Lake Erie Monsters history. Chynoweth is bringing years of coaching experience with him and an understanding of how to guide and encourage young hockey players. All of those things will be valuable assets to the Monsters and their hunt for their first Calder Cup.

Well, yesterday I predicted that David Quinn would be named the new assistant coach for the Avalanche. Today, the Avs announced that Quinn will be the new assistant coach.

Quinn previously coach the Lake Erie Monsters, and served as an assistant coach for the United States at the World Championships this year.

There is still an opening for a video coach.

The official rosters for the IIHF World Championships have been released, and there are several members of the Colorado Avalanche family involved.

Goaltender Semyon Varlamov will be representing Russia, on a talented team that also includes Evgeni Malkin and Pavel Datsyuk. Varlamov is the only NHL goalie on the Russian roster, so I would expect him to get the majority of the starts in the tournament.

Center Ryan O’Reilly will be playing for Canada. Typically Canada enjoys giving their younger players experience at the international level in order to groom them for the Olympics. After his breakout season, I’m not surprised the Canadians came knocking on his door. Also part of the Canadian team is Avalanche Head trainer Matthew Sokolowski. He will serve as one of the trainers for the Canadians.

Left Winger Gabriel Landeskog will represent Sweden. This is a huge honor for a 19 year old, as he is still eligible to play in the Under 20s tournament. There is a bit of a rumor going around that he injured his hip, though I am not sure as to the severity of the injury (from a scale of “nonexistent” to “requires surgery”).

Team USA will boast two members of the Avalanche family. Paul Stastny will be wearing the red, white, and blue on the ice. Stastny has represented the United States several times before (most notably during the Olympics in 2010). Last year he was prepared to play during the World Championships, but discovered a stress fracture in his leg. (Had he played, he would have joined his older brother, Yan Stastny). The coach of the Avalanche’s AHL affiliate (the Lake Erie Monsters), David Quinn will be an assistant coach for the United States.

I'm currently doing some home improvement. Unfortunately for my neighbors, some curtains have been taken down, allowing them to see my frequent solo dance parties...what do you mean this has nothing to do with my article? I'm getting there. Anyways, I held a little dance because I was delighted to see the Avs so well represented in this tournament.