This morning, we learned that GM Julien had finally found his head coaches for the next seasons. With the Great Whites, Claude Julien will make a comeback behind the bench. He is no stranger to the organization since he has been the coach of this team in recent seasons. The veteran trainer has accepted a 3 year offer that will earn him $ 450,000 per year. In a short press release he said he was very happy to be back with this team and that in the last season he had developed a great chemistry with GM Julien who had been hired in the middle of the season. He also said that with the acquisitions during the off-season, the Great Whites could hope for better than last year.
As for the Lumberjacks, Mike Kitchen who was the coach of the Monsters during the last season has finally refused in recent weeks to follow the team in Poland. Unfortunately for us, the reasons for his refusal were not disclosed. Also, during the last days, a strong rumor affirmed that the former player Marco Sturm had been named to replace Kitchen, but with the announcement of this morning, we can completely deny this rumor. Without further ado, here is who has been named to become the 1st Lumberjacks head coach in the history of this team: TOMAS MITELL.
Hockey fans from Sweden are certainly familiar with this name. Tomas Mitell is a former player who evolved as a defensemen during his career which spanned from 1997 to 2014.During his career he has played with clubs like Mariestad BoIS, HC Lidkoping, Orebro HK, Koping HC, Enkopings SK, Surahammars IF and VIK Vasteras HK. After his retirement, he immediately became an assistant coach with VIK Vasteras HK and Mora IK before becoming AIK coach for 2 seasons. During his 2 seasons we are talking about, he has accumulated a record of 64 wins, 27 losses and 13 losses in overtime. He also allowed the AIK club to set a new record by accumulating 109 pts and 35 wins in the 2018-19 season.
Reached by phone at his home in Sweden, the 40-year-old coach said he was honored to have been named the first coach in Lumberjack history. He also stated that he had met General Manager Julien a few times over the past few months and that the 2 men seemed to be on the same page as to the performance the Lumberjacks will need to deliver to be competitive starting next season.
Eventually, he announced that he will be moving to Krakow soon to acclimatize to the city before the start of the season.