Korn's 'children' thrilled to see him raise Stanley Cup with Capitals

VANCOUVER-- When Washington Capitals director of goaltending Mitch Korn raised the Stanley Cup over his head and let out all the emotions that come with waiting 27 NHL seasons for the chance to hold and kiss the famed trophy, he wasn't alone.
Countless goalies, coaches and parents whose lives Korn has touched during 41 years in the game celebrated with him. Together they are known as the "Children of the Korn," and seeing their mentor and friend finally raise the Stanley Cup stirred emotions for them as well.

"I was OK until I saw the picture of him holding the Cup," said Mike McKenna, the No. 3 goaltender in the Dallas Stars organization. "Tears came quick."
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McKenna, who first worked with Korn after being picked by the Nashville Predators in the sixth round (No. 172) of the 2002 NHL Draft, watched the end of Washington's Cup-clinching win in the locker room of the Texas Stars after making 29 saves in a 2-1 win against the Toronto Marlies in Game 4 of the American Hockey League's Calder Cup Finals. He knew he wasn't alone celebrating Korn, whose career as an NHL goaltending coach includes seven seasons with the Buffalo Sabres, 16 years in Nashville, and the past four in Washington, the last as director of goaltending.
"Mitch Korn is without question one of the most influential goalie coaches of all time," McKenna said. "Most fans know his name due to of the sheer number of quality netminders he has helped reach the NHL, but those of us within the goalie community know Mitch's best attribute is the lasting friendships he maintains. There are quite literally thousands of goaltenders across North America that are 'Children of the Korn' and that is why seeing our 5-foot-5 friend from New York City lift the Stanley Cup is so special: it was the only thing left for him to accomplish."

The influence of Korn, 60, can't be measured in the five Vezina or two Hart trophies won by goalies he coached. His reach is better quantified by the more than 400 text messages, 300-plus emails and 100-plus messages on Linked In that Korn received overnight after hoisting the Cup.
"Have not even looked at Twitter or Facebook yet," Korn wrote in a text message after running through the message total from the first 12 hours. "Very surreal. But very special."
Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne, a Vezina finalist who spent his first eight NHL seasons working with Korn, sent a congratulatory email and got a quick response.
"I'm just thrilled for him," Rinne said in a phone interview from Finland. "He's coached so many great goalies, I don't know how many Vezina trophies his goalies have, and all the other accolades but the one thing missing was the Stanley Cup. It was truly special to see."
Korn's legacy extends beyond the biggest names he coached, from Dominik Hasek in Buffalo, to Rinne in Nashville and Braden Holtby in Washington.

"He gave me a chance and it changed my life," said St. Louis Blues goalie Carter Hutton, whose first full NHL season was 2013-14 with Korn in Nashville. "I actually waited to watch and see Mitch lift the Cup. He will always have a wide umbrella of goalies he has developed which means a lot to him and us. Now he has the Cup he worked so hard for."
Among coaches, his proteges include the current goaltending coaches of the Toronto Maple Leafs (Steve Briere), Predators (Ben Vanderklok), Carolina Hurricanes (Mike Bales), Winnipeg Jets (Wade Flaherty) and Capitals (Scott Murray), and many more in the AHL.
"He helped me get my foot in door," said Bales, who started as a goaltending development coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins before moving up and winning the Cup twice. "I know what that feeling is, so seeing Mitch do it was pretty special. Everybody in the goaltending world knows how special Mitch has been to the game and to goalies and goalie coaches, and seeing him cement that legacy with his name on the Cup, I felt really happy."
That feeling extended beyond the NHL. Korn worked at Miami University in Ohio as an assistant coach and running the arena starting in 1981. He also started a travelling summer goalie school in 1976 that continues today, with Korn flying to Nashville the morning of Game 4 of the Cup Final to be on site for the start of the 41st year of the camps that bear his name.
"Mitch said all these years how important the camp was to him and how important it is to have an impact and he lived up to those statements by doing that," said Nick Petraglia, who met Korn as a freshman goalie at Miami University in 2000, and recently became the director of external relations there after 10 years as an assistant. Petraglia also helped run Korn's camps for 16 seasons, and said his influence extends to hockey administration.
"It's an immeasurable impact," Petraglia said. "His roots spread so far and into so many areas beyond goaltending. It's got to be thousands. It's easy to think about the impact he's had in the NHL because everybody knows the names but he cares just as much about the squirt hockey player reaching his potential and loving the game, and he treats everyone the same and that's why every single one of us shared in the joy of watching him finally lift the Cup."