George Kingston (ice Hockey)
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George Kingston (born August 20, 1939) is a
Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
coach. He was the long-time coach of the
University of Calgary {{Infobox university , name = University of Calgary , image = University of Calgary coat of arms without motto scroll.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , former ...
hockey team, and coached the Canadian Men's Team to a gold medal at the 1988 Spengler Cup as well as coaching the
Canadian men's national ice hockey team The Canada men's national ice hockey team (popularly known as Team Canada; ) is the ice hockey team representing Canada internationally. The team ...
at the 1994
Ice Hockey World Championships The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), first officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The IIHF was created in 1908 while the I ...
and winning the first gold medal for Canada in 33 years. He was named a 2019 Order of Hockey in Canada recipient.


Biography

Born in
Biggar, Saskatchewan Biggar is a town in central Saskatchewan, Canada. It is on Highway 14, west of Saskatoon. Biggar has become well known for its unusual town slogan, an Olympic athlete, and a world-record deer. The town was featured on American morning newsma ...
, Kingston played hockey as a youth, and was signed by the
Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...
of the
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
in 1953. However, he decided to attend the
University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...
instead. He had to quit hockey due to shoulder injuries, and in 1967, was hired by the
University of Calgary {{Infobox university , name = University of Calgary , image = University of Calgary coat of arms without motto scroll.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , former ...
as an assistant coach. Named head coach in 1968, he served in that role until 1986, also becoming an assistant professor. At Calgary he had a 245–128 record and led the university to five Western Canadian University championships. While coaching at Calgary he also completed a master's degree, and in 1977 finished a PhD; his dissertation was based on travels to Europe to study coaching, and was titled "The Organization and Development of Ice Hockey during Childhood in the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Sweden and Canada". Kingston was a volunteer with Hockey Canada programming for ten years, including roles with the 1980, 1984, 1988 and 1994 Olympic teams. His success at the University of Calgary led Kingston to offers as an assistant coach in the
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
, where he served as an assistant for the
Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The ...
from
1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...
to
1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...
and the
Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...
during the
1988–89 NHL season The 1988–89 NHL season was the List of NHL seasons, 72nd Season (sports), season of the National Hockey League. The Calgary Flames won an all-Canadian Stanley Cup Finals against the Montreal Canadiens four games to two. This remains the last ti ...
. In 1989, Kingston was appointed the head coach of the
Norway men's national ice hockey team The Norway men's national ice hockey team is the national ice hockey team from Norway that participates at the IIHF World Championships. The team is governed by the Norwegian Ice Hockey Association and is coached by Petter Thoresen (ice hockey), ...
, which he held until 1991. After two years in Norway, which included a best-ever finish for the junior national team and a significant improvement and solid preparation for Norway which hosted the Lillehammer Olympics, Kingston was named as the head coach of the expansion
San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. The Sharks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Con ...
. The Sharks posted a 28–129–7 record in two seasons under Kingston's watch, and he was released following the
1992–93 NHL season The 1992–93 NHL season was the 76th regular season of the National Hockey League. Each player wore a patch on their jersey throughout the season to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Stanley Cup. The league expanded to 24 teams with the ...
. Following this, Kingston was hired as director of hockey operations with responsibilities to serve as general manager and mentor coach for the Canadian Olympic team at the
1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, were an international winter multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Hav ...
, where Canada won silver. Kingston then went on to be the head coach of Team Canada at the World Championships in Bolzano/Milano, winning the gold medal in the tournament. The success at the World Championship did not go unnoticed, as following the tournament, Kingston became coach of the
Germany men's national ice hockey team The German men's national ice hockey team is the national ice hockey team of Germany and is controlled by the German Ice Hockey Federation. It first participated in serious international competition at the 1911 European Hockey Championship. Wh ...
, which enjoyed a number of successes, including participating in the final round of the World Cup of Hockey in 1996. In
1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...
, Kingston was hired by another NHL expansion team, this time becoming an assistant coach for the
Atlanta Thrashers The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) on June 25, 1997, and became the League's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 NHL sea ...
. After two years in Atlanta, he joined the Florida Panthers as an assistant in
2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
, coaching there until 2007. He next coached Norway's national women's team and laid the foundation with very young players who moved up the ladder in international hockey, and assisted the men's national team in qualifying for the Vancouver Olympics, as well as being a special consultant to the
Norwegian Ice Hockey Federation The Norwegian Ice Hockey Association (in Norwegian language, Norwegian, ''Norges Ishockeyforbund'' (NIHF) is the governing body of all Ice hockey in Norway, ice hockey, sledge hockey and in-line hockey in Norway. NIHF has its office at Ullevaal ...
and
Olympiatoppen Olympiatoppen is an organisation that is part of Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports with responsibility for training Norwegian elite sport. Olympiatoppen is based at the Toppidrettssenteret between Norwegian ...
, the Norwegian Olympic Program. He was assistant coach of Norway men's sledgehockey team, a bronze medal winner at the Vancouver Paralympics in Vancouver.


Coaching style

Kingston developed a reputation as a "teaching coach", in that he was interested in showing players how to play better, and not just giving instructions as was common in the 1960s and 1970s. Kingston was interested in the developments made in the Soviet Union towards coaching, and in 1971 spent five months in Europe learning coaching techniques, including three and a half weeks in the USSR, even being allowed to watch national team practices. He took a sabbatical in 1974–75 and returned to Europe, spending time in the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, and Sweden to see how their hockey programs worked. This formed the basis of his PhD research. In 1976 he was one of six people assigned by the
International Ice Hockey Federation The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; ; ) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 84 member countries. The IIHF maintains the IIHF World Ranking based on international ice hockey to ...
(IIHF) to study a team at the
1976 Canada Cup The 1976 Canada Cup was an international ice hockey tournament held September 2 to 15, 1976, in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg and Quebec City in Canada as well as in Philadelphia, in the United States. It was the first of five Canada Cup ...
, and wrote a report on his observations for further study. Kingston has done extensive research into all aspects of the game of hockey, and is well-known through the combination of coaching, research, and presenting his work in IIHF, NHL and numerous world hockey forums. He serves as a volunteer managing director of the NHL Coaches' Association, and as an assistant coach of
Lithuania national ice hockey team The Lithuanian national ice hockey team is the national ice hockey team of Lithuania. The team is overseen by Lithuanian Ice Hockey Federation who is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). Lithuania is ranked 24th in the IIHF ...
.


NHL coaching statistics


References


External links

*
George Kingston's staff profile at Eliteprospects.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kingston, George 1939 births Atlanta Thrashers coaches Canada men's national ice hockey team coaches Canadian ice hockey coaches Florida Panthers coaches Germany men's national ice hockey team coaches Living people Minnesota North Stars coaches Norway men's national ice hockey team coaches Order of Hockey in Canada recipients People from Biggar, Saskatchewan San Jose Sharks coaches San Jose Sharks executives