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The Anaheim Ducks have announced that Dallas Eakins has been named the 10th head coach in franchise history.
It's official: Dallas Eakins is our new head coach!
— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) June 17, 2019
➡ https://t.co/D9PyhxsW9P pic.twitter.com/3QfinYzaUf
Eakins has spent the previous four seasons as the head coach for Anaheim’s AHL affiliate San Diego Gulls where he lead them to a 154-95-23 record in the regular season and three Calder Cup Playoff berths.
The 52 year-old will succeed General Manager Bob Murray as head coach, who had taken over on an interim basis after firing Randy Carlyle on February 10th.
Eakins began his coaching career with the Toronto Marlies, the AHL affiliate of the Maple Leafs before getting his first taste of the NHL coaching life as the bench boss of the Edmonton Oilers before the 2013-2014 season. In December of 2014, however, Eakins was relieved of his duties with the Oilers after posting a 36-63-14 record over one and a half seasons.
Many players either with guaranteed roster spots or challenging for one have played part of their professional career under Eakins. Those players include John Gibson, Nick Ritchie, Ondrej Kase, Troy Terry, Sam Steel, Max Jones, Isac Lundeström, Kiefer Sherwood, Jacob Larsson, Josh Mahura, and Max Comtois.
Most of the veterans are also somewhat familiar with Eakins due to his involvement in running drills and scrimmages during NHL training camp.
General Manager Bob Murray released a statement along with the announcement:
“Dallas is an outstanding head coach who has worked well with our players since joining the organization four years ago. He is a tremendous leader and strategist, and deserves this opportunity.”
Eakins added a statement of his own:
“This is a tremendous honor for my family,” said Eakins. “I am truly humbled. It was a privilege to serve as head coach of the San Diego Gulls during our first four seasons, and I look forward to build off that success here in Anaheim.”
A press conference discussing the news will be held at 12:00 PM Pacific and will be available live on Prime Ticket and on anaheimducks.com.
This story will be updated as the news develops.