The Los Angeles Kings have named Pierre Turgeon as an Assistant Coach. The announcement came from Kings Vice President and General Manager Rob Blake and Kings Head Coach John Stevens.
Turgeon, 47, is making his NHL coaching debut with the Kings.
Turgeon, 47, is making his NHL coaching debut with the Kings.
“We are thrilled to bring Pierre Turgeon aboard to join John Stevens and our coaching staff. For the first time in LA Kings history we will have one coach strictly dedicated to an ‘Offensive Coordinator’ role,” Kings President Luc Robitaille said.
The native of Rouyn, Quebec, ranks 38th all-time in career NHL goals after scoring 515 of them over 19 NHL seasons with the Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders, Montreal Canadiens, St. Louis Blues, Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche. He was selected No. 1 overall by the Sabres in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft and made his debut with them during the 1987-88 season.
Turgeon joins a staff that includes Assistant Coach Dave Lowry (hired on May 30), Assistant Coach Don Nachbaur (hired on June 22) and Goaltending Coach Bill Ranford (entering his 12th season with the Kings), completing the staff under Stevens, who was named the Kings Head Coach on April 24.
“Pierre had great success as a player and has a tremendous hockey background on the whole. He is a person who brings a lot of energy, passion and insight to the job along with a great deal of enthusiasm about the game,” Stevens said. “We look forward to him adding to our team, and to our staff, a real team perspective from a person who was a high-end player, especially in the offensive zone. We have talked a lot during the process of building a coaching staff regarding the qualities of the people we wanted to bring aboard. We feel strongly that Pierre will help compliment myself, Dave Lowry, Don Nachbaur and Bill Ranford and we are together looking forward to the start of the season.”
Turgeon averaged 1.03 points-per-game during his long career. He authored nine seasons of 30-plus goals and eight seasons of 80-plus points, and he set career highs in goals (58), assists (74) and points (132) during the 1992-93 season, a season in which he was also named the winner of the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy.
He was selected as an NHL All-Star five times in his career (1990, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2000). In addition to ranking 38th all-time in career NHL goals (515), is also 21st all-time in career NHL power play goals (190), tied for 21st all-time in career NHL game-winning goals (86), 30th all-time in career NHL assists (812) and 32nd all-time in career NHL points (1,327). Turgeon also skated in 109 career Stanley Cup playoff games, totaling 97 points (35-62=97) and 36 penalty minutes.
Turgeon, who recorded over 100 goals and over 300 points in separate stints with Buffalo (1987-1991), the New York Islanders (1991-1995) and St. Louis (1996-2001), announced his retirement as a player following the 2005-06 season.
Since retiring, Turgeon has been active in coaching his kids at different levels up until a couple of years ag
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