The Pittsburgh Penguins have named Jacques Martin senior advisor of hockey operations, it was announced today by executive vice president and general manager Jim Rutherford.

Martin, 61, has over 25 years of NHL experience as a general manager, head coach and assistant coach with Pittsburgh, Montreal, Florida, Ottawa, Colorado/Quebec, Chicago and St. Louis.

His duties will include monitoring NHL games, with an emphasis on Eastern Conference teams, assessing how the Penguins compare to the competition. He will report his information to general manager Jim Rutherford.

Martin, who spent last season as an assistant coach on the Penguins’ staff, has won 613 games and made 12 playoff appearances in 17 seasons as a NHL head coach. He won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s ‘most outstanding coach’ with Ottawa in 1999 and was a finalist for the award on three other occasions.

Martin won gold medals as an assistant coach for Team Canada at the 2002 Olympics and the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. He was also an assistant coach on the 2006 Canadian Olympic Team.