Dave King
Dave King, a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame, has over 35 years of coaching experience, including stints in both the NHL and in international competition.
King had a successful career with the Canadian National Hockey Program from 1982-1992. He coached Canada to the gold medal at the 1982 World Junior Championship and served as an assistant coach with the bronze medal-winning Team Canada at the World Championship that same year. The following year, he led Canada to the bronze medal at the 1983 World Junior Championship and a year later guided the Olympic team to a fourth place finish at the 1984 Winter Olympic Games in Sarajevo. King returned to coach Team Canada to a fourth place finish in the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary. He also coached Canada in the World Championships from 1989 to 1992, capturing silver medals in 1989 and 1991. King enjoyed his greatest Olympic success at the 1992 Games in Albertville, France as he led Canada to a silver medal. King’s first stint as an NHL head coach came in Calgary where he led the Flames to a 109-76-31 record and a pair of division titles in three seasons (1992-93 to 1994-95). He then spent three seasons with the Montreal Canadiens, where he served as an assistant coach from 1997-99 and as Director of European Scouting in 1999-00.
On July 5, 2000, King was named the first head coach of the expansion Columbus Blue Jackets. In 2000-01, he led the Blue Jackets to a 28-39-9-6 record and 71 points, which ranked second among NHL expansion franchises (excluding the 1967-68 season when the NHL doubled in size from six to 12 franchises). The Blue Jackets also became the first expansion team since 1970 to post a better than .500 record at home, going 19-15-4-3 at Nationwide Arena. King has spent the last five seasons coaching professionally in Russia and Germany. He has also received numerous awards during his coaching career. In recognition of his contributions to hockey, he received the Order of Canada Award in October of 1992 and was inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 1995. In 1996, he joined Wayne Gretzky and the 1972 Team Canada squad as recipients of the inaugural Canadian Hockey Awards. King was also presented with the Father David Bauer Award for leadership. In 2001, he was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame.