Former Penguins coach Kevin Constantine joins WHL’s Wenatchee Wild
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Former Pittsburgh Penguins coach Kevin Constantine was named as the first coach of the incoming Wenatchee Wild, an expansion team at the junior level in the Western Hockey League .
His hiring was announced by the team, which is based in Wenatchee, Wash., via release Thursday.
Constantine, 64, served as the Penguins’ coach for parts of three seasons in the late 1990s. In 189 games with the Penguins, Constantine compiled a record of 86-64-39 and led the team to the Northeast Division title during his first season of 1997-98.
Since then, Constantine’s career has largely been nomadic.
While serving as general manager and coach of the former Pittsburgh Forge junior franchise of the North American Hockey League in the early 2000s, Constantine took over the New Jersey Devils as head coach in the middle of the 2001-02 season before returning to the Forge the following campaign.
After the Forge folded in 2003, Constantine, a native of International Falls, Minn., joined the Everett (Wash.) Silvertips of the WHL for four seasons before taking over the former Houston Aeros franchise of the American Hockey League (AHL).
By 2010, Constantine moved to Angers of the Ligue Mangus in France and then bounced to HC Ambrì-Piotta of Switzerland’s NLA.
Following a return to the Silvertips for four seasons, Constantine coached the Daemyung Killer Whales, a team based out of Seoul, South Korea that competes in the Asia League Ice Hockey, for three seasons.
After a brief stop in Poland with TH Unia Oświęcim of the Polska Hokej Liga (PHL) in 2020-21, Constantine assumed control of Fehérvár AV19, a Hungarian team that operates out of the International Central European Hockey League, which is primarily based in Austria. That led to him coaching Hungary in the International Ice Hockey Federation’s World Championship tournament this past spring.
In addition to the Penguins and Devils, Constantine previously coached the San Jose Sharks at the NHL level.