Almost a month to the day after unveiling the team in Utica, the AHL’s Comets have found their bench boss.

Travis Green, a former NHL centre, has been named the head coach of the AHL’s newest franchise.

Green, who spent last season at the helm of the WHL’s Portland Winter Hawks, joins the Comets after coaching the team to an Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champions. After Winter Hawks head coach and GM Mike Johnston was suspended due to sanctions against the team for undisclosed player benefits, Green took the reins.

Though the team lost in the Memorial Cup Final to 2013 first-overall pick Nathan MacKinnon and partner in crime Jonathan Drouin, Green’s ability to take the team from turmoil to league champions is a testament to his ability to lead a young hockey club.

Selected 23rd overall in the 1989 NHL entry draft, Green played 1,206 NHL games, racking up 203 goals and 273 assists.