Daily Roundup: Chicago Blackhawks hires Kendall Coyne Schofield, Winnipeg Jets hire Dave Lowry and more
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Chicago hire Kendal Coyne Schofield
The Chicago Blackhawks have hired Kendall Coyne Schofield as the organizations first every female player development coach.
Coyne, an Illinois native, is a forward for the U.S. Women’s National Ice Hockey Team winning six World Championships scoring 23 goals and 51 points in 37 games. She’s played twice for the U.S. Olympic team winning a gold medal in 2018 and a silver in 2014 scoring four goals and nine points in 10 games.
For four years she starred at the NCAA’s Northeastern University scoring 141 goals and 249 points in 133 games. Coyne also appeared in the 2019 NHL All-Star Game and recently worked as a broadcast analyst for NBC Sports.
Chicago also announced the hiring of Erik Condra as a player development coach and Juan Gonzalez as a strength and conditioning coach for the Rockford Ice Hogs.
Jets hire Dave Lowry
The Winnipeg Jets have hired former NHL forward Dave Lowry as an assistant coach. Lowry, 55, was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in the 1983 draft and played in over 1000 NHL games.
Upon retiring from playing in 2004, Lowry has served as a coach in the WHL and NHL working stints with the Calgary Hitmen, Calgary Flames, Victoria Royals, L.A. Kings and Brandon Wheat Kings.
Last year, he served as the head coach for the Wheat Kings leading the club to a 35-22-6 record and what would’ve been a playoff appearance ahead of the league shutting down.
Matthews and McDavid skating together
Two of the most heavily compared players in the NHL over recent years are now finding themselves working together to prepare for the 2020-21 season.
Both Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews have been skating together in Arizona, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported, and that many other NHL’ers have joined them.
Jonathan Toews, Jake Bean, Anthony Duclar, Matt Dumba, Alex Galchenyuk, members of the Coyotes and some NCAA players have arrived too with Shane Doan running practices.
Here’s what Doan said about the Matthews and McDavid:
“They do everything at 99 per cent. I don’t know if there’s any difference when (Matthews/McDavid) have the puck or don’t have the puck. Other players aren’t as fast when carrying it. At the beginning of my career, it was, ‘You pass to me, I one-time it.’ Then it moved to, ‘I’ll pass to you, you pass back to me, and I’ll one-time it.’ And now it’s, ‘Okay, I’m going to be skating as fast as I can, you’re going to pass it to me, I’m going to quickly handle the puck, make a move and shoot the puck.’ It’s just the way they do everything at top speed, so impressive.”
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