Spirit add former NHL defenseman Darren Rumble to Saginaw coaching staff

 

Saginaw Spirit GM Dave Drinkill announced in an email press release this afternoon the addition of former Philadelphia Flyers first round pick Darren Rumble to the Spirit coaching staff.

 

 “Darren brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our staff after coaching for many years in different roles,” Drinkill said. “(Spirit head coach) Chris Lazary and (assistant) Ryan Kuwabara have done a fantastic job since the coaching change and we always said if the right person came along we would look to bring them onto the staff for the rest of the season. We felt that bringing Darren in at this time makes a lot of sense for the organization and we are looking forward to working with him.” 

 

Rumble, a 49-year old former defenseman from Barrie, ON played three seasons (1986-89) for the Kitchener Rangers in the Ontario Hockey League, where he was drafted with the 20th overall pick by the Flyers in the 1987 NHL draft. 

 

Following his OHL career, Rumble spent two seasons with the Hershey Bears in the American Hockey League (1989-91) and made his NHL debut playing 3 games for Philly during the 1990-91 season then spending his two longest stretches in the NHL, playing 69 games for the Ottawa Senators in the 1992-93 season and 70 games for the Sen's the following year, before playing 19 games with the Tampa Bay Lightning during the 2002-03 season, while the Lightning rewarded Rumble for his work during those 19 games by adding his name to the Stanley Cup the following year, despite only playing 5 games during Tampa Bay's 2004 Cup run.

 

Rumble transitioned into coaching, spending six seasons in the AHL as an assistant coach for the Springfield Falcons (2004-07) and the Norfolk Admirials (2007-10) then moving to the Canadian Hockey League as an assistant for the Lewiston MAINEiacs (2010-11) of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and the Seattle Thunderbirds (2012-13) as an assistant, before spending four seasons as the head coach of the Moncton Wildcats (2013-17) in the QMJHL. 

 

He'll be on hand, joining Lazary and Kuwabara behind the Saginaw bench when the Erie Otters visit for a 7:05 pm face off at the Dow Event Center tonight.