From: Ryan Stanzel
Director of Communications
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
713.361.7930 (Direct Line)

KEVIN CONSTANTINE IS AEROS’ NEW HEAD COACH

Minnesota native has seven NHL seasons, IHL championship to his credit

HOUSTON, Texas – Kevin Constantine, a former runner-up for the National Hockey League’s Coach of the Year honor, has been named the head coach of the American Hockey League’s Houston Aeros, the team announced Tuesday. Constantine spent the last four seasons as head coach of the Western Hockey League’s Everett Silvertips. The announcement was made by Minnesota Wild President/General Manager Doug Risebrough. The Aeros are the Wild's primary developmental affiliate.

“A development team requires a leader who will teach the players the game, while at the same time instilling the discipline, accountability and hard work required to play in the NHL for this organization,” Minnesota Wild Assistant General Manager/Aeros General Manager Tom Lynn said. “Kevin has a demonstrated record of all of these elements. In addition, he has had success coaching at all levels of hockey, and in particular in developing younger players.”

Constantine, 48 (12/27/58), has been behind the bench as a head coach for more than 1,000 combined games, presiding over teams in the United States Hockey League (USHL), International Hockey League (IHL), National Hockey League (NHL) and Western Hockey League (WHL).

The native of International Falls, Minn., accrued a 159-153-66 mark in seven National Hockey League seasons with San Jose, Pittsburgh and New Jersey. Two seasons after helping Kansas City claim the International Hockey League’s Turner Cup championship in 1991-92, Constantine took over a Sharks team that won just 11 games the previous season. Constantine led San Jose to a 33-35-16 record in 1993-94 and a first-round upset of Detroit in the Western Conference Quarterfinals. He was the runner-up to current Minnesota Wild head coach Jacques Lemaire for the Jack Adams Trophy as the NHL’s top coach, after the Sharks improved a league-record 58 points. Constantine is the only NHL coach to ever lead a pair of eight seeds over a No. 1 seed, having also led Pittsburgh over New Jersey in 1998-99.

Constantine joined expansion Everett in 2003-04 and led the Silvertips to a 162-106-20 mark in four seasons. Everett won division titles in three of his four seasons there, and advanced to the WHL Final in its inaugural season, helping Constantine land Coach of the Year honors. In 2006-07, Constantine led the Silvertips to a 54-15-1-2 record and a berth in the Western Conference Semifinals. Among the players under Constantine’s tutelage in Washington have been Ondrej Fiala, the Wild’s second-round pick (No. 40 overall) in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, and Peter Mueller, the eighth-overall pick by Phoenix in 2006.

In two seasons with Kansas City, Constantine’s Blades went 102-48-14. Constantine has also served as an assistant coach with NHL Calgary, IHL Kalamazoo, and as head coach of North Iowa and Rochester of the United States Hockey League. Constantine also founded the North American Hockey League’s Pittsburgh Forge in 2001. The Forge compiled an 80-24-8 record in his two seasons there. Eighteen Forge players earned Division I scholarships.

Constantine played amateur hockey at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in upstate New York and was Montreal’s ninth-round pick (No. 154 overall) in the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft.

Cosntantine has three sons: Mathew, Jeffrey and Nicholas.

---HOUSTON AEROS---