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Al Coates returns for his fourth season with the Mighty Ducks, his first as senior advisor to the general manager. He joined the Ducks on April 7, 2003, as senior vice president of business operations and assumed the role of interim General Manger on June 8, 2004. He was named to his current position in the summer of 2005.
Coates is now in his 35th year of professional hockey administration. As executive vice president & general manger with the Calgary Flames (1995-2000), Coates acquired several of the top players in the NHL today. Included in the group are current Flames players Jarome Iginla and Robyn Regehr, along with Tampa Bay’s Martin St. Louis, Phoenix’s Derek Morris and the Mighty Ducks’ own J.S. Giguere.
After completing a professional hockey career in Europe, Coates spent nine years in management with the Detroit Red Wings organization from 1971-80. The following season (1980-81), he joined the Calgary Flames inaugural staff (after the franchise moved from Atlanta) as the team's director of public relations. Coates spent 20 years in the organization, also holding positions of assistant to the president (1982-89), director of hockey administration (1989-91), and assistant general manager (1991-95), culminating with the position of executive vice president, general manager and alternate governor from 1995-2000.
A native of Listowel, Ontario, Coates joined the Ducks after spending three years with the New York Rangers and Madison Square Garden, overseeing the team and business operation of the Rangers' American Hockey League affiliate in Hartford.
While with the Flames, Coates led the team to success both on and off the ice during his 20-year tenure with the franchise. In addition to his role in contributing to the Flames 1989 Stanley Cup Championship, he led the organization to great success in the Calgary community. Coates co-founded the Calgary Flames Charity Golf Classic in 1981, which has raised over $1.6 million over two decades for local charities, and developed the "Flames Jr. Locker Room" for underprivileged kids. He also was the Honorary Chairman of the Calgary Special Olympics, founded the Celebrity Charity Golf Tournament in his hometown of Listowel, Ontario, and participated in several other charitable activities in the community.
Al and his wife Jane have three children, Katie, Carlee and Jeffrey. The family resides in Yorba Linda, California. | 