Coyotes Hire Segal, Promote Sullivan and Re-Sign Brown

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The Arizona Coyotes are wrapping up probably the busiest month in franchise history since they moved from Manitoba in 1996. In just the last two days they hired former Anaheim Ducks management staff member Ari Segal as chief operating officer, promoted Steve Sullivan Director of Player Development, and re-signed Newell Brown to a multi-year contract extension as the team’s Assistant Coach.

Ari Segal

The Coyotes snagged Ari Segal from the Anaheim Ducks, where he served both as President of Business Operations for Anaheim’s American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate San Diego Gulls, and Special Assistant to Ducks’ CEO Michael Schulman. The Gulls finished second in attendance in the AHL during their inaugural season under Segal’s leadership, and he has worked with the NHL broadcast media strategy group. All of this experience will greatly help the Coyotes as they move their newly-acquired AHL team to Tucson.

Segal received his MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar, and his JD from Stanford Law School in 2013. Before joining the Ducks organization he was an associate with McKinsey & Company in the firm’s sports practice, worked in private equity with CCMP Capital Advisors, and in investment banking with Lehman Brothers.

Steve Sullivan

As Director of Player Development, Steve Sullivan will continue to oversee the Coyotes’ amateur player development as well as adding the responsibility of working with the coaches and players of the new Tucson AHL team.

[quote_box_center author=”John Chayka, Coyotes General Manager”]“Steve has done an excellent job monitoring and developing our top prospects the past two seasons,” said Chayka. “We are pleased with his work and he is very deserving of this promotion.”[/quote_box_center]

In an NHL career totaling 1,011 games, the Timmins, Ontario native totaled 290 goals, 457 assists for 747 points in stints with the New Jersey Devils, Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago Blackhawks, Nashville Predators, Pittsburgh Penguins and Coyotes.

Sullivan won the 2009 Bill Masterton Trophy as a Nashville Predator, which is awarded each year to the NHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. Sullivan became the first player in Predators history to win an NHL award.

Newell Brown

Newell Brown, who is the team’s Assistant Coach in charge of power-plays, will be starting his fourth season with the Coyotes in October. The Coyotes led the league with 35 home power-play goals, finished seventh in NHL with a 20.0% power-play percentage in 2014-15, and fourth the season before with 19.9%.

His coaching experience before the Coyotes includes assistant coaching stints with the Vancouver Canucks, Anaheim Ducks, Columbus Blue Jackets and Chicago Blackhawks, dating back to the 1996-97 season.

Prior to the NHL, the Cornwall, Ontario native spent four seasons as Head Coach of the Adirondack Red Wings (Detroit’s AHL affiliate), Head Coach of Michigan Tech University and Assistant Coach at Michigan State. Internationally Brown was Head Coach of Team Canada when they secured a silver medal at the 1988 Spengler Cup.

A Very Busy May in Arizona

First, the Coyotes announced the hiring of the NHL’s youngest general manager at 26-years old, John Chayka. Our own Mike Necciai wrote a great profile of Chayka for The Hockey Writers.

Then after a very long and arduous process of gathering approvals from the American Hockey League and the Tucson City Council, and closing on the purchase of the Springfield Falcons, the Coyotes announced that the team is moving to Tucson for the 2016-17 season.

They have a ‘Name Our AHL Team’ contest going on too.

And on Tuesday they announced that they are going to have to find a new coaching staff for the newly-purchased, soon to move and still to be named AHL affiliate as they released the entire Falcons coaching staff.

After a very dismal 26-42-8 record for the 2015-16 season with Springfield Falcons, finishing last in the AHL, the team confirmed that head coach Ron Rolston, along with assistant coaches Mike Bavis and Doug Janik, will not be moving to Tucson.

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