Who says you can't go home?
Sabres GM Tim Murray conducted an exhaustive search to find Chad Cassidy's replacement as head coach of the Rochester Amerks. Murray ans Dan Bylsma interviewed many interested candidates for the job, however, in the end a familiar face earned the job.
Murray announced today that Randy Cunneyworth has been named Head Coach of the Rochester Americans, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Sabres.
“We are happy to have Randy Cunneyworth move into the role of head coach of the Rochester Americans,… said Murray. “Randy has already established himself as a valuable member of our hockey department in his previous role as development coach, and his track record for winning in the AHL and developing young players make him the ideal candidate to lead the Amerks.…
Cunneyworth returns for his second stint as head coach of the Amerks after guiding the team to a 306-273-61 record, as well as playoff appearances in six of eight seasons, from 2000-01 to 2007-08. His 306 wins are second-most in team history. In 2004-05, Cunneyworth led Rochester to the AHL’s best regular-season record, going 51-19-6-4 to capture the MacGregor Kilpatrick Trophy. That season, Cunneyworth also earned the Louis A. R. Pieri Award as the AHL Coach of the Year. Most recently, Cunneyworth served as Development Coach for the Sabres organization. Before re-joining the team during the 2013-14 season, Cunneyworth served as interim head coach for the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens during the 2011-12 campaign. After starting the season as an assistant coach, Cunneyworth was promoted to interim head coach on Dec. 17, 2011 and guided the Canadiens to an 18-23-9 record in 50 games. His tenure in the Montreal organization also featured a one-year stint as head coach of the AHL Hamilton Bulldogs, whom he guided to a first-place finish in the AHL’s North Division followed by a trip to the Western Conference Final during the 2011 Calder Cup Playoffs.
In nine seasons as an AHL head coach with Rochester and Hamilton, Cunneyworth has compiled 350-302-68 in 720 games, which ranks him 8th all-time in wins and games played among AHL head coaches. He also ranks 2nd among active coaches in games coached and 3rd among active coaches in wins.
Prior to his time with the Canadiens organization, Cunneyworth spent two seasons as an assistant coach for the Atlanta Thrashers (2008-09 and 2009-10). He began his coaching career as a player-assistant coach with the Amerks under former head coach Brian McCutcheon during the 1999-00 AHL season and helped the team to an appearance in the Calder Cup Final. Upon his retirement as a player, he was hired by the Amerks to serve as head coach the following season and retained that post for eight seasons, the longest consecutive tenure of any coach in team history.
During the 2006-07 season, Cunneyworth became only the second coach in team history to work 500 career games. He also passed legendary coach Joe Crozier for second place on Rochester’s all-time wins list.
Cunneyworth’s most successful season at the helm of the Amerks came during the 2004-05 campaign, when he guided Rochester to an AHL-best 51-19-6-4 record (112 points). In addition to earning the Louis A.R. Pieri Award as the AHL’s Coach of the Year, the Amerks set several single-season franchise records, including most points (112) and the longest home winning streak which saw Rochester win 17 consecutive home games between Dec. 17 and Mar. 4.
As a player, Cunneyworth had an NHL career that spanned parts of 16 seasons, including three as team captain of the Ottawa Senators. He began his NHL career with the Sabres in 1980-81 after the team selected him in the eighth round of the 1980 NHL Entry Draft and returned to Buffalo in the 1998-99 season for what would be his final NHL season. In 866 career NHL games with Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Winnipeg, Hartford, Chicago and Ottawa, the Etobicoke, Ontario, native registered 414 points on 189 goals and 225 assists along.
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Buffalo, NY has been named one of five finalists to host the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship.
Chicago, Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Tampa are the other cities in the running to host the WJCs. The Buffalo Sabres hosted the tournament in 2011 when Vlad Tarasenko and Team Russia snatched victory from the jaws of victory against the stacked Canadians. Russia fought back from a 3-0 third period deficit to score a 5-3 gold medal win.
The Buffalo hosted event set tournament attendance records due to its proximity to Toronto and Southern Ontario.
The annual championship, which features 10 nations and the future stars of the NHL, is conducted in late December/early January each year. It includes the best male players in the world under the age of 20. All total, 31 games are played in the championship over a two-and-a-half week stretch with worldwide television coverage, including the NHL Network in the United States.
“We had interest of varying levels from more than a dozen entities,… said Mike Bertsch, assistant executive director of marketing, communications and events for USA Hockey. “In the end, we’re extremely pleased with the group of finalists. The time and effort each put into the materials that were submitted is impressive and we look forward to continued conversations with each of the finalists.…
Bertsch noted USA Hockey will have the host selected by the end of the year. “We’ll likely further narrow the field in the next 60 days and then conduct in-person visits before making a final decision.…
The IIHF World Junior Championship has been officially staged by the IIHF since 1977. USA Hockey has served as the host federation for the event on five occasions, including 1982 (Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota), 1989 (Anchorage, Alaska), 1996 (Boston, Massachusetts), 2005 (Grand Forks, North Dakota/Thief River Falls, Minnesota) and 2011 (Buffalo/Niagara, New York).
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