Former Centennials Assistant wins second straight Calder Cup

Hershey Bears head coach Mark French is certainly making a case that he should be considered a candidate for any vacant NHL head coaching positions this summer.

The former North Bay Centennials assistant coach guided his Hershey Bears to their second straight Calder Cup title with a 4-0 win over the Texas Stars in game 6 of the best-of-seven American Hockey League final.

The affiliate for the Washington Capitals overcame a 2-0 series deficit to claim their title on home ice Monday night.

French credits his captain Bryan Helmer for helping turn the series around.

“The guys had a players only meeting as soon as we got to Texas,” said French about his club which lost the opening 2 games of the series on home ice.

“One person talked and it certainly wasn’t me, it was our captain. I believe that was probably the turning point in terms of understanding what we had to do to win a game and how deep we really had to go as a group to win.”

French coached the Bears to an impressive 60-17-0-3 record during the regular season.

Last year, French led the Bears to their 10th AHL title defeating the Manitoba Moose 4 games to 2 last June.

Before joining the Bears in '07, French worked two seasons with the Wichita Thunder (CHL) as head coach and director of hockey operations.

French was an assistant coach for the Cents from 1999 to 2000 under head coach Mike Kelly.

French is married North Bay native Kim Beaudry-French.