John Paddock
Alvin John Paddock ( born June 9, 1954 in Oak River, Manitoba ) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player and current coach and general manager. He is currently assistant coach of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League.
- 2.1 As a player
- 2.2 As a coach
Career
As a player
John Paddock began his career in 1972 in the Canadian Junior Football League with the Brandon Wheat Kings WCHL. In his second season he proved his qualities as a scorer and preparers and reached 83 points in 68 games. He also proved his physical strength as he conceded 228 penalty minutes. He was selected out of the Washington Capitals in the third round of the NHL Amateur Draft 1974 at position 37.
From the autumn of 1974 he played for the Richmond Robins in the AHL, which acted as a farm team of the Washington Capitals. He managed to equal a good start in professional hockey with 26 goals and 22 assists in his first season and thus recommended him for his first appearances in the NHL, which he received at the beginning of the 1975/76 season also. But he was transferred in December 1975 to the Philadelphia Flyers and was used in the rest of the season only in the AHL.
In the following three years he only played five times for the Flyers and played seasons mostly in the AHL with the Springfield Indians and the Maine Mariners, with whom he won the Calder Cup in 1977 and 1978. 1979/80 he was frequently play in the NHL and went with the Philadelphia Flyers to the final for the Stanley Cup. Although Paddock played only three games in the playoffs, but in the sixth game of the finals series, he was suddenly in the spotlight, as he scored the equalizing goal against the New York Islanders, who led the game into overtime. There, however, the Islanders scored the winning goal and still won by the Stanley Cup.
In August 1980 he was transferred to the Quebec Nordiques, but even there he could not prevail, and came in two years only 32 times used. Instead, he played in the AHL remains with the Maine Mariners and led them as captain. In the spring of 1982, he took over along with his teammate Dennis Patterson and Wayne Schaab to the end of the season, the coach of the Mariners, but still played more for the team.
In January 1983, he again took the Philadelphia Flyers under contract and he took another ten games in the NHL. In the summer he signed with the New Jersey Devils, but did not receive him into the NHL squad, so Paddock continued to play with the Maine Mariners.
As a coach and manager
In November 1983, Paddock finally ended his career to head coach of the Maine Mariners to be. In his first year as coach, he led the Mariners to win the Calder Cup. He stayed another year with the team, but then took over the coaching job at the Hershey Bears. There, too, he had the same success, reaching the final of the Bears AHL playoffs. Under Paddock the Bears were in the following years the dominant team and eventually won the 1988 Calder Cup.
In May 1989, he resigned as coach because he was appointed assistant general manager of the Philadelphia Flyers. But after only one year he left Philadelphia and was coach of the Binghamton Rangers, the AHL farm team of the New York Rangers. However, he remained in only one year, because in the summer of 1991, he was appointed head coach of the Winnipeg Jets in the NHL. Paddock led the team to the playoffs in 1992 and 1993, suffered a setback in the following year, when only 24 of the 80 games were won and the final round was missed. At the end of the season Paddock also took over the position as general manager of the Jets. As again failed to success in the 1994/95 season, he stepped down from his coaching job and focused on his work as a general manager. In the position he remained even when the Winnipeg Jets were relocated in the summer of 1996 to Phoenix, Arizona and renamed the Phoenix Coyotes. In December of the same year he was made redundant.
In September 1997 he joined the organization of the New York Rangers and served as Director of Pro Scouting responsible for the sighting of potential signings for the NHL squad. In 1999 he gave the post and took over as head coach of the Hartford Wolf Pack, the AHL farm team of the Rangers. In the first season he won the Calder Cup with them and let two more playoff appearances. In 2002 he moved within the AHL with the Binghamton Senators, the farm team of the Ottawa Senators, he has coached three years.
When the Ottawa Senators Bryan Murray got a new coach for the 2005/06 season, Paddock was his assistant. In the season 2006/ 07 they went to the Stanley Cup a final, but subject there to the Anaheim Ducks. Shortly after, Murray was appointed General Manager and promoted Paddock to head coach of the Senators. Paddock was able to celebrate a good start, as he led the Senators with 16 wins in the first 19 games in the season 2007/ 08 and to the top of the Eastern Conference, where the Senators also remained until February 2008. Meanwhile supervised Paddock the Eastern All-Stars as head coach at the NHL All-Star Game in January, but the Senators could not build on the good performance from the beginning of the season and lost the top spot in the East end of February after 14 defeats in 21 games. Paddock was subsequently dismissed by the senator.
Half a year later took him the Philadelphia Phantoms of the AHL under contract. There he worked until the end of season 2008/ 09, before Paddock was hired by the Philadelphia Flyers as an assistant general manager in July 2009. In 2013, he was there to assistant coach Craig Berube under when Peter Laviolette was fired as head coach.
2010 awarded him the American Hockey League for his contributions as a player and coach with the inclusion in the AHL Hall of Fame.