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Kevin Constantine


Kevin Lars Constantine (born December 27, 1958) is an American ice hockey coach who currently serves as the head coach of the Everett Silvertips of the Western Hockey League. Constantine has coached hockey teams in the NHL, IHL, and numerous major junior hockey leagues. He was also the former head coach of HC Ambri-Piotta in the Swiss National League A.

Born in International Falls, Minnesota, Constantine was drafted as goaltender by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1978 NHL Draft, and played six games of collegiate hockey for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. He left RPI as a junior and finished his degree at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Constantine made a name for himself as a head coach in the late 1980s and early 1990s by guiding the Rochester Mustangs of the USHL and the Kansas City Blades of the IHL to winning records, as well as coaching the 1991 U.S. National Junior team to its (then) best-ever record at the World Junior Championships. Having found success at lower levels, he was hired as head coach of the San Jose Sharks for the 1993–1994 season: under his guidance, the team set an NHL record for largest improvement by finishing 58 points higher in the standings than it had the previous season. Between 1993 and 2002, Constantine would coach the Sharks, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the New Jersey Devils, earning a record of 159–153–66. He is the only coach in NHL history to take two eighth-seeded teams to first-round Stanley Cup playoff upsets (San Jose over the Detroit Red Wings in 1994 and Pittsburgh over New Jersey in 1999).


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