We’re thrilled to announce five new additions to the TCS Live line-up, including Washington Capitals assistant coach – Mitch Love, 7 time Stanley Cup Champion, Barry Smith, Coach Consultant, Jack Han, The Athletic Reporter, Scott Wheeler and Assistant coach for Redbull Salzburg, Ben Cooper.
Get to know our newest presenters below:
A quick Google search of the NHL coaches with the most Stanley Cup championships will reveal Scotty Bowman has the most all-time with nine. One name not on the list that should be, however, is Barry Smith, who was an Assistant Coach under Bowman for five Cup wins, adding two more wins later in his career, for seven in total. Winning the Holy Grail with Bowman is in fact the proudest moment of Smith’s incredible career.
Smith coached in the NHL for more than 20 years before moving behind the bench in the KHL, NLA and SHL. The 71-year-old from Buffalo, New York, is a firm believer in not over coaching, instead listening to the leaders on your team and making hockey fun. Smith is a member of both the Ithaca College Sports Hall of Fame and the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame.
Jack Han is a Coaching Consultant and author of the Hockey Tactics Newsletter. As a first-generation immigrant, Han was the only person in his family to play hockey. He never fulfilled his childhood ambition of becoming a professional player, but began coaching hockey at 18 and reached the NHL a decade later as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Player Development Department.
Since then, Han has served as an Assistant Coach with the Toronto Marlies (AHL) and as a Coaching Consultant for the Connecticut Whale (PHF), ZSC Zurich (Swiss National League) and Tappara Tampere (Liiga). Asked what the proudest moment of his hockey career is, Han said it was watching clients Alex Huang and Philippe Veilleux being selected in the first round of the 2023 QMJHL draft!
Mitch Love is the Assistant Coach of the Washington Capitals. Love was Head Coach of the Calgary Flames’ AHL affiliate, the Calgary Wranglers, for two seasons prior, guiding Calgary to an AHL-best 51-17-3-1 record in 2022-23. For his efforts, Love received the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as the AHL’s Outstanding Coach, an award he won in back-to-back seasons. Prior to joining the Flames organization, Love, who played professionally for six seasons, was Head Coach of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades from 2018-21. The Quesnel, British Columbia native also served as an Assistant Coach with the Everett Silvertips of the WHL for seven seasons from 2011-18.
Internationally, Love was an assistant coach on Canada’s gold-medal winning team at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship and served in the same role at the 2021 tournament, earning a silver medal.
Scott Wheeler is an NHL Staff Writer with The Athletic. Wheeler, who covers covers the NHL Draft and prospects nationally, has written for the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, The Toronto Sun, the National Post, SB Nation and several other outlets in the past. Wheeler is a graduate of Carleton University’s School of Journalism and has one published book: On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Toronto Maple Leafs at the NHL Draft available now!
Ben Cooper is an Associate Coach with Red Bull Salzburg, the two-time defending ICEHL Champions currently competing in the final again. Cooper is the former Head Coach of the DK’s Herning Blue Fox, a former Assistant Coach with the Florida Panthers and a former Video Coach with the Vancouver Canucks and Hockey Canada.
See these presenters share their specialties live and in-person at TCS Live. Get your tickets today.