The Penguins on Wednesday named Kirk MacDonald head coach of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The hiring fills the void left by the Penguins opting to not renew the contract of previous head coach J.D. Forrest at the end of Wilkes-Barre's season.
MacDonald, 40, was the head coach of the USHL's Dubuque Fighting Saints for the last two seasons. This season Dubuque won the Eastern Conference, going 41-13-8 in the regular season before losing in the Clark Cup Final to the Fargo Force.
Before joining Dubuque, MacDonald spent eight years with the ECHL's Reading Royals -- first as an assistant coach for three years, then five years as both the Royals' head coach and director of hockey operations. As head coach of the Royals, MacDonald accumulated a total 158-86-34 regular-season record.
MacDonald got his start behind the bench as an assistant coach for one season for his alma mater RPI in 2013-14.
MacDonald had a seven-year playing career as a winger from 2007-13, playing 134 ECHL games and 272 AHL games primarily with the Providence Bruins. He finished his playing career with the Royals in the ECHL, winning the Kelly Cup.
MacDonald is a cancer research advocate, having battled and beat testicular cancer in 2005.
The hiring leaves Wilkes-Barre with MacDonald and assistant coach Sheldon Brookbank behind the bench, after former assistant coach Kevin Porter's contract expired at the same time as Forrest's and was not renewed. When those contracts weren't renewed, the Penguins said that "additional changes to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton staff will be announced when a new head coach is named." A second assistant coach could be hired, but it isn't uncommon for a team to only have one. Brookbank managed the defense and penalty-kill for the last two seasons.
