Retired hockey forward Brad Malone is now the assistant coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League. (SUBMITTED)
WILKES-BARRE, PA. – A retired forward from Miramichi has coached his new squad to the conference final in his first season behind the bench in the league where he spent most of his playing career.
Brad Malone, who’s now an assistant coach of the American Hockey League’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, has led the team to the Eastern Conference Final and a date with the Toronto Marlies, who lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 heading into Game 6 on Sunday in Wilkes-Barre.
The Marlies, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ AHL affiliate, took Game 5 on Friday with a 5-1 victory at the Coca-Cola Coliseum. The Penguins won Games 3 and 4 after dropping the first two games of the series.
Malone, 37, was named an assistant coach of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ AHL affiliate, in 2025 after serving as interim head coach of the major-junior Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey League. He led the Generals to an OHL final as the Eastern Conference champions.
Oshawa went 13-8 in the post-season after posting a 23-11-4 record in the regular season with Malone, who was previously the Generals’ player development director, behind the bench.