SSNlogo4SSNlogo4SSNlogo4SSNlogo4
  • Home
  • About us
  • Local Sport Stories
    • Sports Shorts
    • Hockey
    • Figure Skating
    • Curling
    • Baseball
    • High School
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Swimming
    • Lacrosse
    • Rugby
    • Soccer
    • Golf
    • Football
    • MMA
    • Auto Sports
  • Videos
  • Podcasts
  • Become a community partner
  • How to support us
  • Contact Us
✕
Rec hockey gets a thumbs up
September 23, 2020
Costs cutting into Simcoe Seals future
October 6, 2020
Show all

Kinnear returns to Charlotte as AHL Checkers bench boss

By Darryl G. Smart

Things have truly come full circle for Geordie Kinnear.

The pride and joy of Delhi had always thought of Charlotte, NC. as a home, especially after spending six seasons as the Charlotte Checkers assistant coach. And thanks to a series of fortunate events, Kinnear and his family are moving back and he will now be that team’s head coach for the upcoming American Hockey League season.

“I always wanted to be the head coach of the Charlotte Checkers,” Kinnear told Paul Branecky, who is the Checkers’ vice president, marketing and communications. “I have a ton of respect for the Checkers and what they are about.”

After spending six years as an assistant with the Checkers, Kinnear chased his dream of becoming a head coach, moving to the Springfield Thunderbirds, who had just become the Florida Panthers AHL affiliate at the time.

At the beginning of September, it was finally made official, that the Panthers and Checkers would enter into an affiliate agreement, because of a chain of events that all began with the St. Louis Blues.

In March, the St. Louis Blues signed an affiliation deal with the Thunderbirds. The Blues previously had an agreement with the Chicago Wolves. As a result, the Carolina Hurricanes moved its prospects to the Wolves. This move set up the Panthers sliding its affiliation over to Charlotte, setting up a reunion with Kinnear and much of the Checkers’ front office.

“The relationships, the people and the commitment to winning,”  Kinnear said of why he appreciates Charlotte. “The competitive nature of everybody and the family approach that Michael brings. I just felt it was such a family-oriented group. Obviously they went on to a win a Calder Cup, and that’s no surprise with how things are run.

“Everyone’s happy,” he said. “It’s a great place to live and a place we felt was home. I just never thought we’d get back here like we did.”

SPENT TIME IN THE NHL BUBBLE

After the affiliation move, Florida Panthers head coach Joel Quenville asked Kinnear to accompany the NHL team to the Toronto bubble. While there, Kinnear watched over and put the Panthers’ extra players through their paces, while being another set of eyes in the press box during games.

“The mental toughness, to be able to win, whether you’re in the bubble or not, is first and foremost,” Kinnear said. “Being without your family, I don’t care who you are, is always a challenge. To make that sacrifice is not easy, but I think in the end if you ask these two teams if it was all worth it right now to be playing in the Stanley Cup Final, that’s what we’re all here for. To be able to win in the end.”

Share
0
Darryl G. Smart
Darryl G. Smart

Related posts

January 12, 2022

Huge December for Chuli; named PHF Player of the Month and to All-Star Showcase with Woods


Read more

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

✕

SPONSORS

Donate Securely with PayPal

Choose currency

Enter amount

FIND US

CATEGORIES

  • Auto Sports
  • Baseball
  • Basketball
  • Curling
  • Figure Skating
  • Football
  • Golf
  • High School
  • Hockey
  • Lacrosse
  • Local Sport Stories
  • MMA
  • Rugby
  • Soccer
  • Sport
  • Sports Shorts
  • Swimming
  • Uncategorized
  • Volleyball

LATEST POSTS

  • 0
    Huge December for Chuli; named PHF Player of the Month and to All-Star Showcase with Woods
    January 12, 2022
  • 0
    A grand time at 12th annual Langton Skating Gala
    December 20, 2021
  • 0
    Alliance Hockey places pause on playing games; OMHA still a go
    December 17, 2021
  • 0
    Blue Devils awarded Sportsmanship award at OFSAA ; Plus all of the high school scores and standings heading into the break
    December 17, 2021
  • 0
    Minor hockey – Dec 16
    December 16, 2021
  • 0
    Local PJHL Roundup:Storoschuk and Noble lead Merchants to victory
    December 16, 2021
  • 0
    Corvairs hope perseverance pays off
    December 16, 2021
  • 0
    U18 Thunder flex defensive muscle to earn silver at A division tournament
    December 15, 2021
  • 0
    Dover skaters get back to competition for the first time in two years
    December 15, 2021
  • 0
    High school roundup
    December 14, 2021

TAGS

AABHN Athletic Association of Brant Haldimand Norfolk baseball basketball Brantford Brantford 99ers Brantford Bandits Brantford Red Sox Burford Bulldogs Caledonia Corvairs Delhi Delhi Raiders Dunnville Mudcats gojhl Greater Ontario Junior hockey League Hagersville Hawks Haldimand Haldimand County high school high school athletics high school sports hockey Holy Trinity Titans IBL ICBA Intercounty Baseball League junior C hockey junior hockey Langton minor hockey Norfolk Norfolk County Norwich Merchants OHA OJHL Ontario Hockey Association pjhl Port Dover Sailors Provincial Junior Hockey League SCBA Simcoe Giants Simcoe Sabres softball sports shorts volleyball
Smart Sports Network The place for all things local sports Serving Norfolk, Haldimand and surrounding areas
© 2020 Smart Sports Network. All Rights Reserved.