Sudbury Wolves formally announce Derek MacKenzie as new head coach

Derek MacKenzie was named the new head coach of the Sudbury Wolves on Wednesday, confirming the speculation that the former NHLer is the 31st head coach in team history.

MacKenzie, 41, is a Sudbury native who played for the Wolves before going on to an NHL career that included stops in Atlanta, Columbus and being captain of the Florida Panthers.

His father, Ken, is a former Wolves coach and is currently an assistant to GM Rob Papineau.

“In keeping with my promise to players and fans I’m bringing championship hockey back to Sudbury, I am so excited that we can announce a new head coach today,” said Wolves owner Dario Zulich during a livestreamed event to announce MacKenzie.

MacKenzie was an assistant coach with the Panthers in 2019 and coached alongside Sudbury native Andrew Brunette in Florida from 2019-2022 where they helped lead the Panthers to the best record in the NHL last season.

“My job starting from today is to not only win games but to develop these guys to be professional athletes, to turn pro,” MacKenzie said Wednesday.

While the team has started slowly, he said what counts is what they do at the end of the year.

“I think the expectation is that we should be in a better situation than we are right now,” MacKenzie said.

“So (the) short-term goal is to implement some of these things that I think will make us successful and then continue to grow as a team. I’m a big advocate (that) it’s not necessarily how you start a year, it’s how you finish.”

GM Rob Papineau said when they began looking for a new coach, MacKenzie was the perfect fit.

“He knows what it takes to combine skill and compete with hard work,” Papineau said.

“I think for our group, we have a lot of skill and making sure we’re competing hard, work(ing) hard and have accountability. I think he’s the perfect fit for the Sudbury Wolves.”

In a news release announcing the hire, MacKenzie said he was excited to be coming home.

'WHATEVER IT TAKES'

“Although we have challenges ahead of us, I’m very excited and optimistic that this team will have great success in the future and I’m looking forward to getting home as soon as possible,” he said.

“I assure Sudbury Wolves fans that I will do whatever it takes to bring a championship team to Sudbury, and I believe Derek will help us take that next step in achieving that,” Zulich said in the release.

“I have worked hard with the organization this past year to provide a new experience for Wolves fans and I want to continue to do that in every aspect of the organization and bring playoff hockey back to Sudbury.”

“The Sudbury Wolves are very fortunate to have brought in someone of Derek Mackenzie's stature,” Brunette said in the news release.

“He was fortunate enough to work for the best coach of all time, Joel Quenneville, and like his playing career he has shown the same passion and dedication to be the best coach he can be. The Sudbury Wolves players are getting a coach who will help drive them to be the best versions of themselves.”

MacKenzie played 257 games through four seasons for the Sudbury Wolves between 1997 and 2001 accumulating 95 goals and 158 assists for 253 points. He helped Canada win a bronze medal at the 2001 World Junior Hockey Championship and won the Calder Cup with the Chicago Wolves in 2012.

MacKenzie is expected to take over behind the bench beginning Nov. 18 as he works through some logistics of moving back to Sudbury, the team said.

-- With files from Ashley Bacon