Hurricanes Hire Mark Morris as Checkers Coach

The Carolina Hurricanes have hired Mark Morris to be the second head coach of the Checkers’ AHL era.Concluding a search that began with their decision to not renew the contract of Jeff Daniels in April, Charlotte’s parent club made the hiring of the 57-year-old Morris official on Friday. The Hurricanes also announced the Geordie Kinnear would remain with the Checkers as assistant coach.“Mark is an experienced head coach whose teams never had a losing record in 21 seasons at Clarkson and with Manchester,” Hurricanes General Manager Ron Francis said in an official release . “He is a proven teacher of the game who has been a part of developing successful NHL players.”Morris, who has 21 seasons of head coaching experience with Clarkson University (1988-2002) and at the AHL level with the Manchester Monarchs (2006-2014), is the only coach to win more than 300 games at both the collegiate and professional levels. He served as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Florida Panthers last season. He ranks 10th in AHL history with 338 victories.While with Manchester, the top affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings, the native of Massena, NY, posted a record of 338-224-66, making the playoffs in seven of eight seasons and earning club records for games coached (522), regular-season wins and postseason wins (35). Notable players coached during his tenure there include Matt Moulson, Teddy Purcell, Jonathan Quick, Brian Boyle, Jonathan Bernier, Tyler Toffoli, Tanner Pearson and reigning AHL MVP Brian O’Neill.With Clarkson, Morris went 306-156-42 in the regular season and 39-19-1 in the postseason, including nine appearances in the NCAA tournaments and one in the Frozen Four. NHL players produced during his tenure there include Kent Huskins, Willie Mitchell, Craig Conroy, Todd Marchant and former Hurricane Erik Cole.Prior to becoming a head coach, Morris was an assistant at Union College and St. Lawrence University for one and three seasons, respectively. In his playing days as a defenseman, he completed four seasons at Colgate University from 1977-81 before playing three professional campaigns with the CHL’s Dallas Black Hawks and the AHL’s New Haven Nighthawks from 1981-84.