WINTERHAWKS HIRE ASSISTANT
The Portland Winterhawks have announced the hiring of Keith McKittrick as an assistant coach.
McKittrick will join General Manager & Head Coach Jamie Kompon and returning Assistant Coach Kyle Gustafson on the bench this season. McKittrick comes to the Hawks from the National Hockey League’s Detroit Red Wings, where he spent six seasons, the last two as assistant coach – video.
The hiring of McKittrick from the Red Wings comes on the heels of the team bringing in 17-year NHL coaching veteran Kompon as the team’s General Manager & Head Coach.
On headset with Detroit’s assistant coaches during games, McKittrick’s responsibilities included presenting video breakdowns to staff and players during intermissions, as well as organizing video scouting reports for game preparation. In addition, McKittrick provided video reports for post-game individual player-performance reviews and joined the coaching staff on-ice during team practices, focusing on skill development work with individual players.
“Keith is a highly-regarded coach whose experience providing in-game analysis will be a valuable asset when he joins us on the bench,” said Portland Winterhawks General Manager & Head Coach Jamie Kompon. “With our coaching staff in place I’m looking forward to getting started with training camp next month.”
Prior to his tenure with the Red Wings, McKittrick spent time on the staffs with Michigan State University, and the NHL’s Minnesota Wild. McKittrick also has international experience as the video coach for Team USA at the 2006 Three Nations Tournament, and at the 2007 World Junior Championship in Sweden where he helped the U.S. capture a bronze medal.
