NHL parent Phoenix Coyotes have agreed to contract extensions with Portland Pirates head coach Ray Edwards and assistant coaches John Slaney and Mike Minard.

In addition, Pirates’ athletic trainer Mike Booi and equipment manager John Krouse have signed contract extensions.

“We are very pleased to have Ray continue to lead our AHL team in Portland,” Coyotes vice president of hockey operations and assistant general manager Brad Treliving said. “Ray, along with John and Mike, have formed an excellent staff and they have done a terrific job in the continued development of our prospects.

This past season, Portland finished the regular season with a 41-30-3-2 record to earn a spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs. This past season, 11 different Pirates’ players were called up to the NHL to play for the Coyotes.

“We are thrilled that the contracts of the Pirates’ coaching staff have been extended by Coyotes’ management,” Portland Pirates CEO/managing owner Brian Petrovek said. “This provides continuity going forward, picking up on the successes experienced this past season as we begin our third decade of Portland Pirates hockey.”

Edwards, 43, is entering his seventh season with the Coyotes organization and his fifth as head coach of the Coyotes’ AHL affiliate.

Slaney, a two-time recipient of the Eddie Shore Award given annually to the AHL’s top defenseman, enters his third season with the Pirates.

Minard, 36 enters his third season as the Pirates’ goaltending/video coach. He is a two-time recipient of the AHL’s Yanick Dupre Memorial Award, for outstanding community service.

Booi, a Michigan State graduate, enters his third season as the Pirates’ athletic trainer, while Krouse, who served as an equipment manager of the old Iowa Stars for three seasons, enters his fifth season with the Phoenix organization.

 

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