Assistant Coach Spotlight: Mike Stothers

The Penguins will enter the 2025.26 season with a new group of assistant coaches under head coach Dan Muse: “You go through the entire coaching staff now, there's a lot of different places that these coaches have come from, experiences that they've had in the game, and so now you bring that all in together.” We are putting the spotlight on each member of the staff throughout training camp.

The other day, head coach Dan Muse and head equipment manager Jon Taglianetti joked that they might need to order some steel sticks for assistant coach Mike Stothers. It’s a miracle that Stothers hasn’t gone through a dozen sticks by now, with how he bangs them on the glass to get the boys going.

“We should make a guess on how many sticks he's actually going to go through this year in practice,” Muse said with a laugh. “You just see that energy. It's contagious, you know? It is. I just try to not break character and start smiling when I look over and see him banging on the glass.

“It's awesome. I mean, just so much energy. He’s an unbelievable human being. We're all so fortunate that he's here with us on staff. He adds so much in terms of his knowledge of the game, his passion for the game, everything that he's done in the game, both as a player and as a coach. Then, he's an amazing, amazing coach, and he's an even better human being.”

That’s what Muse, Kyle Dubas and Jason Spezza quickly learned when Stothers’ name came up as a candidate during their assistant coach search, and they started reaching out to people and players he’s worked with during his 30 years of coaching experience, most recently as an assistant with the Anaheim Ducks.

Stothers has also spent time in the NHL as an assistant coach for the Atlanta Thrashers (2010-11) and Flyers (2000-02). In the AHL, Stothers served as head coach for the Ontario Reign, Manchester Monarchs and Grand Rapids Griffins.

In his only season with Manchester, he guided them to the Calder Cup Championship and received the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as the AHL’s Coach of the Year.

Muse said he was “blown away” by the positive feedback about Stothers.

“He's another coach that's had tremendous success, really, everywhere he's been,” Muse said. “He won a championship there in the American League. He's been an assistant coach in the NHL for multiple organizations... the hockey world's a small world, and it's pretty easy to connect the dots, the impact that he's made on players.”

That meant the world to Stothers, who called those relationships the biggest reward of this job. It’s one he stepped away from for a time, after being diagnosed with Stage 3 melanoma of the lymph node.

Stothers said he’s feeling terrific, and is grateful to the care and support he got from the Ducks organization.

“It was top notch all the way,” Stothers said. “It was a little bit of a setback, it was a little bit of a battle. But you know what, I felt confident through the whole thing, especially after learning more about the particular cancer that I had. The doctors were great about keeping me informed as to what was next and what we were going to be anticipating or expecting and the results of that, of how I'd be feeling after treatments and stuff like that. But it's behind me now, and we're looking forward to just keep moving on one foot in front of the other.”

While Stothers could have stayed on with the Ducks, the role would have been more behind-the-scenes. “That was fine, but coaching is my passion,” he said. “Being on the bench, man, you're down there in the action, and it's awesome.”

So, he felt like it would be a good time to return home to Ontario, and spend time with his family, who had been worried about him during his cancer battle.

“You can tell everybody back home that you're fine and you're feeling good, and nobody believes you,” Stothers said with a wry grin. “I wanted to get back with my wife and get back to my daughters and my grandkids and my parents and whatnot and just kind of spend some more time with them and so that they could see that, yes, I was recovered or recuperating.

“I don't think I even realized until I took that time how much of an emotional drain the whole process was. So, I think it was good for everybody, and now I just feel so energized and ready to go, and the juices are flowing. So, it might have been a good thing how it played out, but I did miss the day-to-day of being in the trenches with the players and the other coaches.”

Stothers was actually celebrating his 40^th wedding anniversary when Muse tried getting in touch to see if he would be interested in joining the Penguins, and didn’t have his phone on him. Stothers quickly returned the call, and it took off from there. He will oversee the defense and penalty kill, and is looking forward to working with Muse and Bonino on that area of special teams.

“We seemed to have a lot of similarities in our approach to the game and the players and what's expected as part of a staff,” Stothers said. “Your staff has to be kind of like your roster. Everybody has a role, and then there's a fit. So, it seemed to just move along very, very well from there. Then, they offered me the opportunity and said, you want some time to think about it? I said, no. I said, I haven't stopped thinking about it since the first time you reached out! I’m so excited to be a part of Pittsburgh.”