Laxdal spent the past two seasons as head coach of the OHL's Oshawa Generals
The Coachella Valley Firebirds have hired Derek Laxdal as their new head coach, the team announced Friday.
The Firebirds former head coach Dan Bylsma was hired as the head coach of the Seattle Kraken in May but stayed on with the Firebirds until they were eliminated in the Calder Cup Finals.
A product of Stonewall, Man., Laxdal joins the Firebirds with an extensive coaching background. Since getting his first coaching job in the ECHL as a player/assistant coach in 1994, Laxdal has worked for numerous teams in the WPHL (Odessa Jackalopes) CHL (Odessa Jackalopes, Wichita Thunder), ECHL (Idaho Steelheads), WHL (Edmonton Oil Kings), AHL (Texas Stars), NHL (Dallas Stars) and OHL (Oshawa Generals).
Prior to coaching though, Laxdal enjoyed a lengthy playing career as well. Drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the eighth round of the 1984 NHL Draft, Laxdal went on to have a 16-year pro career and play in 67 NHL games.
Laxdal's career saw him make stops in the NHL, AHL, ECHL, WPHL, Finland, Germany, and England.
As Laxdal gets set to take on his second AHL head coaching gig (he served as head coach of Texas from 2014-2020), he will be taking over a Firebirds team that has been one of the strongest teams in the AHL since their inception. Having experienced his own success over the past few seasons with the Oshawa Generals, Laxdal should be able to step in and not lose a step.
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