The Colorado Avalanche have hired Ray Bennett as an assistant coach and Jussi Parkkila as goaltending coach.
“Ray brings a tremendous amount of NHL experience and hockey knowledge to our team, and Jussi has a proven track record of working with goaltenders,” said Avs GM Joe Sakic. “They’re a great complement to our current coaching staff, and we’re excited to have them join our organization.”
A noteworthy tidbit from the press release:
Parkkila began his pro coaching career with Yaroslavl Lokomotiv in 2007-08, where he tutored current Avalanche netminder Semyon Varlamov.
As for Bennett, he’s been an assistant for the St. Louis Blues the last 10 seasons, his tenure dating all the way back to the Andy Murray years. But Bennett was let go in May, along with three others.
Bennett and Parkkila will join head coach Jared Bednar’s staff, which already included assistant Nolan Pratt.
After finishing dead last in 2016-17, the Avs fired assistants Tim Army and Dave Farrish, and also relieved goalie coach Francois Allaire of his duties.