Penguins identify Vellucci new head coach in WBS | TheAHL.com

The Pittsburgh Penguins have named Mike Vellucci head coach of their American Hockey League affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.Vellucci replaces Clark Donatelli, who resigned from his duties as Penguins head coach on Thursday because of private causes. Assistant coaches Jarrod Skalde and J.D. Forrest will stay with the group of their present roles.Vellucci, who had stepped down as head coach of the Charlotte Checkers and assistant normal supervisor/director of hockey operations of the Carolina Hurricanes earlier within the day, gained the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award because the AHL’s excellent coach in 2018-19, main Charlotte to the perfect regular-season document within the league and later a Calder Cup championship. The Checkers’ 51-17-7-1 document (.724) was the 10th-best in AHL historical past, and the group led the league in penalty killing whereas rating second in objectives allowed and fifth in objectives scored.Vellucci was instrumental in creating prospects for the Hurricanes, who reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2018-19 for the primary time in a decade; 13 totally different Checkers gamers earned remembers to Carolina throughout the season.In his two seasons with Charlotte, Vellucci guided the group to a document of 97-43-Eight-Four. The Checkers reached the second spherical of the Calder Cup Playoffs in 2018 earlier than successful the title in 2019.Donatelli had a document of 154-94-20-9 with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, guiding the Penguins to a few Calder Cup Playoff appearances and a regular-season league title in 2016-17.