Glens Falls, NY - The Adirondack Flames introduced Ryan Huska today as the first head coach in franchise history. Huska, 39, becomes the 15th head coach in the AHL's 26-year history in Glens Falls, joining Glens Falls Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Bill Dineen, Barry Melrose and Glenn Merkosky."I'm really excited," Huska said on making the jump to the AHL. "I feel like it's a great opportunity for myself and my family and a chance to work with Brad Treliving, Brad Pascall, Craig Conroy and the rest of the management group there. It's a thrill for me and I'm super excited for a chance to spend some time with and learn from Bob Hartley and his coaching staff."A native of Cranbrook, British Columbia, Huska comes to the Flames organization from the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League, where he spent the past 12 seasons (five as an assistant coach and seven as head coach) behind the bench. In his tenure as head coach in Kelowna, Huska led the Rockets to a 303-164-37 record, good for a .638 winning percentage. He also led the Rockets to a second place finish in the 2009 Memorial Cup. In his most recent campaign, Huska's team posted a franchise best 57 victories, also tops in the WHL for 2013-14.
Prior to his tenure as a coach, Huska played professionally from 1995-2000, split between the NHL, AHL and IHL. The five year professional was originally drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in the third round (76th overall) of the 1993 NHL Draft. The two-way center played a total of 310 regular season contests as a professional, including one with the Blackhawks (1-0-0-0) in 1998. He also spent time with Springfield (60-5-13-18) and Lowell (61-12-9-21) of the AHL and Indianapolis (188-39-31-70) of the IHL. Huska also appeared in 20 career playoff games, 14 in the IHL (1-4-5) and six in the AHL (0-1-1).Preceding his professional career, Huska, as a player, won three Memorial Cups with the Kamloops Blazers (1992, 1994 and 1995), which ties him for the all time record (three) amongst CHL players. Huska received his fourth ring as an assistant coach with the 2004 Rockets. Huska was also a member of Hockey Canada's World Juniors coaching staff at the 2011 and 2012 IIHF U-20 World Championships, earning silver (2011) and bronze (2012) medals.Huska, his wife Denise and their three children (Hanna, Olivia and Luke), will be moving to the Glens Falls area in mid-August.
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