Another familiar face to NHL fans will be joining the AHL coaching ranks, as the Tucson Roadrunners have hired Zack Stortini as an assistant. The former NHL tough guy has been with the Sudbury Wolves of the OHL the last two seasons but will join Steve Potvin for the upcoming season.
Arizona Coyotes assistant general manager John Ferguson released the following statement:
Zack’s extensive professional playing experience as a team-first competitor combined with his rise on the coaching side make him the ideal complement to John Slaney in supporting and executing Steve Potvin’s head coaching strategies while developing each player’s individual skills and capabilities.
Stortini, 36, played 257 games in the NHL, all but one of them with the Edmonton Oilers, and racked up 725 penalty minutes as one of the league’s top enforcers. The 6’4″ forward had a whopping 81 fighting majors in his time in the NHL, including consecutive years with at least 23. Those numbers were nothing compared to his minor league totals, which included 33 fights in the 2013-14 season alone.
Perhaps that influence can be seen in the Wolves, who led the OHL in penalty minutes this past season, racking up 91 more than any other team.
Given his close to 1,000 games of professional hockey Stortini should be able to relay some wisdom to the Roadrunners squad, which has become a crucial development stage in the Coyotes rebuild. The experience of winning a Calder Cup in 2007 should also come in handy as he transitions to behind a minor league bench.