John Paddock

Alvin John Paddock (born June 9, 1954 in Oak River, Manitoba) is a former Canadian ice hockey player and the former head coach of the Winnipeg Jets and Ottawa Senators. He currently serves as head coach for the Philadelphia Phantoms of the American Hockey League.

Playing career

Selected in the 1974 NHL Entry Draft by the Washington Capitals, Paddock only played 8 games with the Capitals before he was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers. He played a memorable role in the 1980 Stanley Cup Finals, scoring the tying goal to send game 6 of the Finals into overtime. Unfortunately for the Flyers, Bob Nystrom scored at 7:11 of overtime to win the Stanley Cup.

Throughout his career he had a difficult time trying to crack the lineup on an NHL team. Playing primarily in the minors, in particular the Maine Mariners, Paddock retired as a player in 1983–84 and moved to the coaching side.

Coaching career

After coaching in the minors for several years he was named head coach of the Winnipeg Jets in 1991, becoming the first Manitoba-born coach of the franchise. During his coaching stint he would also become General Manager of the team, and would relinquish his coaching duties in early 1994. He would remain the General Manager, even after the Jets relocated to Phoenix, until December 1996.

After two years as a scout with the New York Rangers, Paddock would return to head coaching in 1999, primarily in the AHL. He was head coach of the Hartford Wolf Pack from 1999–2002, winning the AHL Championships in the 1999–2000 season. Later he coached the AHL Binghamton Senators from 2002–2005. He was the assistant coach of the Ottawa Senators until July 6th, 2007 when he was named head coach. In the 2007–08 season, Paddock was the head coach of the Eastern Conference team for the All-Star game on January 27, 2008 as he had the best record in the East leading up to the break.

on August 7, 2008 Paddock was hired by the Philadelphia Flyers to serve as head coach to their AHL team the Philadelphia Phantoms, previously Paddock was the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers AHL teams winning Calder Cup championships with the Maine Mariners(1984) and the Hershey Bears in 1988.

Firing

On February 27, 2008, General Manager Bryan Murray fired Paddock as head coach of the Senators after several lackluster performances by the team in February, and a generally poor record since the first 17 games of the year when they had a record of 15–2. Murray would serve as head coach for the remainder of the 2007–08 season and playoffs, ironically Murray's team was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

NHL Coaching Record

Personal life

John Paddock is married.

External links

*hockeydb|4107
* [http://www.hockeydraftcentral.com/1974/74037.html Profile at hockeydraftcentral.com]
*legendsofhockey|13909