Ray Bennett and Bob Boughner are hired as New York Islanders assistant coaches
The New York Islanders announced today the hiring of Ray Bennett and Bob Boughner as assistant coaches. They will join Head Coach Patrick Roy’s staff, including returning Assistant Coach Benoit Desrosiers and Goaltending Coach Piero Greco.
Bennett, 63, joins the Islanders after spending the last eight seasons as an Assistant Coach with the Colorado Avalanche. The Innisfail, Alberta, native has been an NHL Assistant Coach for the last 24 years, including 10 years with the St. Louis Blues from 2007-08 to 2016-17 and six years with the Los Angeles Kings from 1999-00 to 2005-06.
On the international stage, Bennett served as the manager of high performance/video for the Canadian Hockey Association for two years. He was an Assistant Coach in charge of video for Canada’s silver medal-winning entry at the 1999 IIHF World Junior Championship, the gold medal-winning Canadian National Women’s Team at the 1999 IIHF World Women’s Championship and a fourth-place finish with Canada’s Men’s National Team at the 1999 IIHF World Championship. Bennett was also an Assistant Coach with Canada’s silver medal-winning women’s team at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.
Bennett has also been the Head Coach at Red Deer College and held positions with the Spokane Chiefs, the World Junior Hockey Championship Association, Hockey Canada, the Moose Jaw Warriors and the Alberta Amateur Hockey Association.
Boughner, 54, joins the Islanders after spending the last three seasons as an Associate Coach with the Detroit Red Wings. He’d previously spent three seasons as Head Coach of the San Jose Sharks, where he compiled a 67-85-23 record, and worked two seasons as Head Coach of the Florida Panthers from 2017-19, posting an 80-62-22 mark. Boughner previously worked two seasons as an Assistant Coach with the Sharks from 2015-17 and made his NHL coaching debut as an Assistant Coach with the Columbus Blue Jackets during the 2010-11 campaign.
A native of Windsor, Ontario, Boughner served two stints as Head Coach of the Ontario Hockey League’s Windsor Spitfires from 2006-10 and 2011-15, building a 282-213-49 record. During his first four seasons in Windsor, Boughner was named the OHL and Canadian Hockey League’s Coach of the Year in back-to-back seasons in 2007-08 and 2008-09 and led the team to two-straight Memorial Cup and OHL championships in 2009 and 2010. Boughner also served as Windsor’s president from 2005-21 and franchise owner from 2005-19, during which the team captured another Memorial Cup title in 2017. On the international stage, Boughner served as an Assistant Coach for his country at the 2018 IIHF World Championship. He also coached Canada to a gold medal at the 2009 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, going undefeated in the competition.
Originally selected by the Red Wings in the second round (32nd overall) of the 1989 NHL Draft, Boughner totaled 72 points (15-57-72), a plus-27 rating and 1,382 penalty minutes in 630 NHL games between the Buffalo Sabres, Nashville Predators, Pittsburgh Penguins, Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes and Colorado Avalanche from 1995-06. Boughner also notched 12 assists, a plus-25 rating and 67 penalty minutes in 65 postseason appearances.
