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King accepts KHL coaching gig, takes leave of absence from Coyotes

DaveKing

Dave King is headed back to Russia.

The former Columbus and Calgary bench boss has accepted the head gig with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, according to the KHL website. King replaces Pyotr Vorobyov, who resigned over the weekend due to health problems.

King, who had been working as a development coach in Phoenix, was granted a leave of absence by the Coyotes to return to the country in which he’s had huge success. He won the 2005 Spengler Cup as the head coach of Metallurg Magnitogorsk, defeating Team Canada 8-3 in the final. King later went on to write a book about his time coaching in Russia, then proceeded to coach in the German league before returning to the NHL as an assistant with Phoenix in 2009.

He was moved to his current position of development coach in 2011. According to the Arizona Republic, King will resume his duties once the KHL campaign is over.