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Vegas Golden Knights formally announce head coach

Vegas Golden Knights formally announce head coach
Posted at 11:45 PM, Apr 12, 2017
and last updated 2017-04-21 14:09:13-04

The Las Vegas Golden Knights have made Gerard Gallant the first head coach in the organization's history.

The formal announcement is scheduled to happen at noon Thursday.

“We are proud to announce Gerard as the first head coach in Vegas Golden Knights history,” said Vegas Golden Knights General Manager George McPhee. “He is an experienced head coach, has had success at multiple levels and has a great reputation amongst the players who have played for him. We undertook a very detailed due diligence process over the last several months and canvassed a number of qualified head coaching candidates to ensure we found the best coach for our group. And we believe we have found that coach in Gerard. We look forward to working with him to build a team that our fans and our community are proud to support.”

Gallant has previous NHL coaching experience with the Florida Panthers and playing experience with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Detroit red Wings. Gallant was also recently added to the Team Canada Olympic hockey coaching staff.

“Being named the first head coach in Vegas Golden Knights history is such a tremendous opportunity and one I am extremely grateful for,” said Vegas Golden Knights Head Coach Gerard Gallant. “There is a great deal of excitement in the hockey community regarding what is happening with the Golden Knights and I am glad to now be a part of the team. We have a state-of-the-art practice facility being constructed, a world class home arena and from what I’ve heard, a very passionate and engaged fan base. I look forward to seeing that enthusiasm first hand and will work with George and the rest of the hockey operations staff to ice a team that Golden Knights fans will be proud to support.”

This is another huge step forward for the NHL's newest franchise and for the city of Las Vegas.