The man that guided the Devils to the 2022 Playoff Championship will be behind the bench next season for the Cardiff Devils.
35 year old Brodie Dupont officially takes over the Head Coaching position after a brief stint in charge to finish the 2021-22 season. Dupont took over with 2 weeks remaining in the regular season and led the team to their third consecutive Playoff Championship earlier this month.
Dupont originally signed as a player/assistant coach last season, but officially retired from playing due to injury midway through the year. He stepped behind the bench with Jarrod Skalde and Neil Francis just after Christmas.
During his playing career, he spent 8 seasons in the AHL, the majority with the Hartford Wolfpack, the top affiliate of the New York Rangers. He was called up to the Rangers for his only game in the NHL during the 2010-11 season.
He eventually moved over to Europe where he spent time in the top leagues in Germany, Austria and Denmark before signing with the Devils last summer.
Analysis: Is Dupont the right man for the Devils?
Dupont spoke about the new job:
“I am excited to get started and looking forward to bringing the core of the team back from last season. We had a great group, and we all got a taste of winning a championship last season, so guys are hungry to win again. So am I.
“I understand how big of an opportunity this is for me, but I am definitely prepared for this. I don’t feel like a rookie Head Coach, I feel like this is what I have been preparing for the last number of years.
“I want to thank Franny, Todd and the Owners (Steve, Kelly, Craig and Brian) for the opportunity. I am excited to start getting some of our signings announced now.
Managing Director Todd Kelman spoke about hiring Dupont:
“We took the decision with two weeks left in the season to make a coaching change, and the plan was to give Brodie the chance to prove himself as a Head Coach, which he obviously did.
“We saw the way the guys responded to him, to his coaching style, to him as a leader. This guy deserves to be a Head Coach and speaking on behalf of the owners, Neil Francis, myself, and the rest of the organisation, we are very comfortable with Brodie Dupont as our Head Coach.
“Brodie is not alone trying to learn how to recruit, build a team, budget for a season. He is surrounded by experienced people, none better than Neil Francis, who worked closest with Dupont this season and was a huge advocate of naming him Head Coach.
“We have spent years building our culture, which of course is about winning, but it is also about how we treat our players and staff and our relationship with our fanbase. Brodie is a perfect fit for this team. I hope the fanbase embrace him as much as the players have. When a coach has the buy-in from his guys, when they want to follow someone the way they want to follow Dupont, that’s when great things can happen.”
