Before joining the Bulldogs, Cunneyworth was an assistant coach with the National Hockey League’s Atlanta Thrashers for two seasons (2008-09 and 2009-10). He previously spent nine seasons with the American Hockey League’s Rochester Americans, including seven seasons as head coach from 2000 to 2008. During his tenure with the Americans, he led his team to three 40-plus win seasons, two 100-point seasons and six playoff berths. He left Rochester as the longest serving coach in franchise history and ranks second on the club’s all-time wins list.
During the 2004-2005 season, Cunneyworth led the Americans to a 51-19-4-6 record (112 points), en route to the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy as the league’s top team in the regular season standings. That season, Cunneyworth would earn the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Trophy as the AHL’s Coach of the Year. He also reached the AHL’s Calder Cup Finals with Rochester as a player/assistant coach in 1999-2000, earning the Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award that same season (sportsmanship, determination and dedication to hockey).
Cunneyworth played in a total of 273 career AHL games with Rochester and Springfield, recording 270 points (166 goals, 104 assists) helping Rochester win the Calder Cup in 1983. The Etobicoke, Ontario native played 15 seasons in the NHL between 1981 and 1999. Selected in the 8th round, 167th overall, by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft, the left winger played 866 career regular season games, suiting up with Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Winnipeg, Hartford, Chicago and Ottawa. He registered 414 points (189 goals, 225 assists) and totalled 1,280 penalty minutes. He served as the Ottawa Senators captain for four seasons (1994-1998) and reached the Stanley Cup Finals with the Sabres in 1999. |