Kings announce John Stevens as new head coach
Listen to this articleThe Los Angeles Kings just announced they have come to an agreement with former Kings Assistant Coach and Associate Head Coach John Stevens to become the Kings’s 27th head coach. This will be his second stint as the Kings’s head coach. In 2011 he was the head coach for four games before Darryl Sutter was hired. He has been a part of the coaching staff for the past seven seasons.
In their statement to the media Kings President and General Manager Rob Blake said, “John and I had very productive dialogue this last week in relation to his head coaching philosophy and specifically how he would implement a strategy to activate our players offensively while maintaining the defensive philosophies we have come to be known for,” said Blake. “I am confident that we are both in agreement on how that can be executed. With that said, we believe John has the ideal qualities to lead our hockey club. His wide array of coaching experience, including success as an NHL head coach and his inherent knowledge of our players and those in our development system, is very appealing to us. We are confident he is the best person to lead our hockey club forward.”
Before coming to the Kings Stevens was the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers, from 2006-09. In 2008 Stevens led the Flyers to the NHL Eastern Conference finals.
The new Head Coach is considered to have a great defensive mind and his credited with much of the Kings’ success as a defensive team. That was a major reason the Kings looked to him when considering their options after Darryl Sutter was let go.
As a player, Stevens was drafted by the Flyers in the third round of the 1984 Entry Draft. He spent parts of five season with the Flyers before working around the NHL and AHL through the 1997-98 season.
Stevens is a native of Campbellton, New Brunswick, Canada. He is 50 years old and has two sons, John and Nolan, with his wife Stacy.
Top photo by Claudia Gestro, inset of John Stevens from L.A. Kings
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