The Calgary Flames announced that they have hired Ryan Huska as new head coach of their American Hockey League affiliate, the Adirondack Flames.

It’ll be the first year of the Flames affiliate playing in Glens Falls, New York, having decided to part company with the Abbotsford Heat in BC.
Huska will be taking over from the vastly experienced Troy Ward who had coached the Calgary affiliate since 2010.

Ryan Huska was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in 1993 but his professional career would last just five seasons and see one game in the NHL. In junior he had a lot of success, winning three Memorial Cups. It was no surprise then to see him return to the junior side of things in his coaching career in 2002, two years after his retirement from playing.

After five years as an assistant coach at WHL side Kelowna Rockets, he was given the head coach job in 2007 and under his reign the team never failed to make the post season. They would be champions in 2009 and make it to the final of the Memorial Cup before losing to Windsor Spitfires.

Last season, his seventh in the WHL, Huska guided Kelowna to a division championship with a 57-11-0-4 record, setting a new franchise record in wins.

At 38 years old Ryan Huska will be one of the young guns coaching in the American Hockey League but as we’ve seen, age is no barrier to success.