Cincinnati, OH - The Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL announced this morning they have re-signed assistant coach Dean Stork for the 2008-09 season. Stork will serve as Assistant Coach / Director of Hockey Operations. The Cyclones are the ECHL affiliate of the NHL's Montreal Canadiens and Nashville Predators.
Stork, 32, has served as an assistant with the Cyclones the past two seasons, helping guide the club to a 55-12-5 record last season and the Kelly Cup championship. The 55 wins, 115 standings points and .799 winning percentage were all the best in club history.
Dean's primary responsibility was with the Cyclones defensive unit, which limited opponents to a 2.47 goals against average, second-best in the league. The 178 goals allowed were the fewest in team history and one more than Las Vegas surrendered to lead the league. Cincinnati held the opposition to just 28.4 shots on goal per game, fewest of any team in the ECHL. During the Kelly Cup championship run, the defensive effort was even more stifling as the Cyclones allowed just 2.14 goals per game.
In the two seasons Stork has served as an assistant coach in Cincinnati, the Cyclones have posted a 92-41-11 (.677 winning percentage).
"I'm very glad we were able to bring Dean Stork back for this season," Cyclones Head Coach Chuck Weber said. "He's able to teach the game effectively having played for years and is picking up the other aspects of coaching quickly. Dean was an asset in the championship run we had last year."
Stork was named as assistant coach of the Cincinnati Cyclones in June 2006, ending his seven-year professional playing career to concentrate on working behind the bench. His playing career began in 1999-2000 with Hampton Roads (ECHL), where he played for John Brophy. Dean spent the next three seasons (2000-03) as a member of the Arkansas Riverblades, where also served as an assistant captain. With Arkansas, the coaching roots took hold, as he started the Dean Stork Mini-Camps during the summer-instructing kids in the proper way to play hockey (2003-05).
The Cyclones organization got its first glimpse of Stork in 2003-04, when he was the captain of the club. He then went to Texas (ECHL), where he was the assistant captain and was traded late in the season (2004-05) to Columbia-where he was a part of the East Division's championship team.
Born in Edmonton, Alberta-Dean grew up in Penticton, British Columbia. Stork played collegiately at the University of Massachusetts, where he played more than 100 games in three seasons (1996-99) with the Minutemen. Graduating with a degree in Sport Management, Dean held the record for goals in a season by a defenseman (nine). He was also a member of the Hockey East Honor Roll squad.
