Bob Crawford Named Coach of USA Hockey 18 & Under Team
USA Hockey today announced that P.K. O’Handley
(Waterloo, Iowa), general manager and head coach of the United States Hockey
League’s Waterloo Black Hawks, will serve as head coach for the 2005-06 U.S.
Junior Select Team that will compete in the Viking Cup in Camrose, Alberta,
Dec. 26-Jan. 2. USA Hockey also named Al Bloomer (Molt, Mont.) and Bob Crawford (Cromwell, Conn.) assistant coaches for the 2005-06 U.S. Junior Select Team.
A USA Hockey veteran, O’Handley served as the director of player personnel for the 2004 Viking Cup team, earning a silver medal. The year before, the U.S. Olympic Committee named O’Handley Developmental Coach of the Year.
O’Handley has experienced much success as a coach in professional hockey as well. He spent eight seasons as general manager and head coach of the USHL’s North Iowa Huskies, and led the team to the USHL’s North Division Title in 1997. O’Handley then spent four years (1998-2001) as an assistant coach with the Florida Everblades of the ECHL, during which time the team compiled a 173-88-23 record.
In 2001, O’Handley returned to the USHL and led Waterloo to a franchise best 38-17-5 record and a national championship in 2002-03.
Bloomer has been as an assistant coach at the last two Viking Cup tournaments, including the United States’ 2004 silver-medal-winning campaign.
Bloomer currently serves as an associate coach for the Billings Bulls of the North American Hockey League, where he has been a guiding force since the franchise began in 1992. Under Bloomer’s leadership as a coach, owner, and general manager, Billings has won six regular season titles and five league titles.
An active member of USA Hockey’s volunteer leadership Crawford was elected New England Director for USA Hockey this past summer. Crawford helped found the Connecticut Clippers youth hockey organization, and served as head coach for the Clippers squad that won the 2000-01 USA Hockey National Junior Championship.
Crawford is currently co-owner with Alan Lazowski of Champions Skating Center in Cromwell, Conn. The facility boasts two rinks and a fitness center, and serves as the practice home for the American Hockey League’s Hartford Wolf Pack. Champions Skating Center will also host the U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team as it prepares for the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy.
NOTES: The Viking Cup, held every two years, began in 1981 and will celebrate its 25th anniversary … Crawford’s younger brother Marc Crawford currently serves as head coach of the Vancouver Canucks and was the head coach of the 1996 Stanley Cup-winning Colorado Avalanche.
