NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – Stingrays’ coach Cail MacLean who compiled a two year record of 78-48-9-9 and reached the ECHL playoffs in both of his seasons behind the bench here has accepted an assistant coaching position with the Abbotsford Heat of the American Hockey League. The Nova Scotia native follows the footsteps of Jared Bednar his predecessor in South Carolina who also left the ‘Rays for Abbotsford. Bednar is now a head coach in the AHL with the Peoria Rivermen.
MacLean was promoted to head coach in South Carolina on July 1, 2009. He had served only one year as an assistant to Bednar at the time of his promotion but that experience included the 2009 Kelly Cup Championship. Overall he spent six years with the Stingrays starting as a player in the 2005-06 season. His leadership was recognized early as he served as team captain for both 2006-07 and 2007-08. He registered 63 goals and 74 assists over three seasons with the ‘Rays.
Stingrays’ President Rob Concannon who made the announcement locally said in his press release “On behalf of the Stingrays organization, we are proud to announce that Cail has accepted an assistant coaching position in the AHL with Abbotsford. We will all miss Cail, but we could not be happier for him.”
MacLean who displayed consistent class both on the ice and behind the bench was appreciative of the confidence South Carolina ownership placed in him by selecting him as the Rays’ fifth coach in their history despite his previous limited coaching experience.
He was also quoted in the same release and stated that “I would like to extend my utmost gratitude to the Stingrays organization. The Zucker and Greenwald families (owners) originally provided me with an opportunity to pursue a career in coaching and I cannot thank them enough for that. I would also like to thank the fans for their support and for helping to make South Carolina a premier ECHL organization.”
His new boss will be familiar. He joins the staff of Abbotsford head coach Troy Ward who was MacLean’s’ coach when both were at Trenton of the ECHL in the 2000-2001 season.
Contact the author at Phil.Brand@prohockeynews.com
Related
