Mike Eastwood has 783 games of NHL experience under his belt. Photo via Ottawa 67’s.
The Hershey Bears announced that Mike Eastwood has been named the club’s second assistant coach alongside Patrick Wellar. The announcement came on Monday morning from Capitals GM Brian MacLellan and Hershey’s VP of Hockey Operations Bryan Helmer.
“We’re excited to welcome Mike Eastwood to Hershey,” Helmer said via press release. “As we finalize our new coaching staff, Mike provides an element that we feel will be a great asset to our young players. He did a great job in his coaching stint in the Ontario Hockey League, and he can draw from his vast playing experience in the NHL to help grow and develop our team as we chase a championship.”
Eastwood, 51, has spent the last three seasons as a coach with the Ottawa 67’s of the OHL, where he helped to develop players like Travis Konecny of the Philadelphia Flyers and Washington’s own draft selection from this year in Kody Clark. The coach has 13 seasons of NHL experience under his belt from 1991 to 2004, and was teammates with Helmer as well as current Washington head coach Todd Rierden on the St. Louis Blues in 1999-2000.
With all the fresh young talent coming to Hershey this season, the Bears have a trio of coaches who want to win, know how to play the right way, and have history of developing successful players. All three are still new to coaching at the AHL level, but have seen success in each of the environments they previously spent time with. In each of Eastwood’s three seasons as an assistant coach with the 67’s, the team made the playoffs. The trio behind the bench should be well equipped to help mold the incoming players into a winning club this season.
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