Nottingham Panthers head coach Danny Stewart has signed a ‘multi-year’ contract extension with the East Midlands outfit.
The Canadian, who joined the Panthers after almost a decade behind the bench with the Coventry Blaze, coached Nottingham to a third-place regular-season finish and a place in the Challenge Cup semi-finals.
Samuel Herr, Nottingham Panthers (Image: James Assinder)
“I’m really excited to be back,” Stewart said.
“I have really enjoyed working for the club with both players and staff… we talked a lot about putting this team back on the map and fighting for those trophies and so far we have certainly done that I am excited to see how we can push this team forward.”
CEO Omar Pacha added: “Danny has had a great first season with the club and made us very competitive every night. I said when we appointed Danny that it was part of a long-term vision and I truly believe we can build something special here with Danny.
“His passion as a leader rubs off on the players and you can also see what an outstanding tactical coach he is. Danny already bleeds black and gold and he has really embraced the challenge of getting us back in the fight for trophies.”
The Panthers face the Guildford Flames in the quarter-finals of the playoffs, with the tie to be played on the weekend of 12-13 April.
Analysis – Danny Stewart inks Nottingham Panthers extension
It only takes a quick social media scroll to understand how Nottingham Panthers fans feel about the decision to extend Danny Stewart – they’re understandably thrilled.
Stewart arrived in Nottingham amid difficult circumstances.
Trophyless since 2016-17, the Panthers had been on a downward trend for a while – and then came an unprecedented pandemic and league shutdown.
While the Belfast Giants and Sheffield Steelers came out of the pandemic with a renewed sense of ambition, Nottingham fell further behind their arena club rivals.
In 2022-23, the Panthers finished seventh – a miserable 34 points behind Adam Keefe and his title-winning Belfast side.
In terms of performance, that was the low point.
It’s also impossible to overlook or underplay the impact that Adam Johnson’s death had on the everyone associated with the Panthers.
Stewart arrived in Nottingham the following offseason and stated his ambition on day-one – his immediate ambition was to return the Panthers to content.
And that is exactly what he did.
The Panthers narrowly lost in the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup, took their title chase to the penultimate game of the season, and finished the regular-season with a crisp record of 34-14-6.
Stewart, in tandem with front office boss Omar Pacha, constructed a balanced roster and reaped the rewards, with six forwards breaking the 40-point mark.
Signing Jason Grande midseason was another masterstroke – although few expected, including the player himself, the deal to work out quite as well as it has.
Stewart’s only failure? Nottingham’s ice cold powerplay – which ran at a league-worst 16.67 percent clip.
After a strong first season together, the Panthers-Stewart partnership has a bright future ahead.
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