The head-coach post of the Wild's minor-league affiliate didn't stay vacant for long, as Tim Army was hired Thursday — only a week after Derek Lalonde left the position to become an assistant with the Lightning.
Army joins Iowa of the American Hockey League after spending last season as an assistant with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the AHL, the Penguins' affiliate. Before then, he was an assistant with the Avalanche from 2011-2017.
He was most recently a head coach when he guided his alma mater, Providence College, from 2005-2011. The program reached the Hockey East Quarterfinals in each of his first three seasons at the helm, and it had a winning conference record in two of those campaigns. Army was also head coach of the Portland Pirates of the AHL from 2002-2005, with the team going 99-89-26-6.
The 55-year-old also had stints as an assistant with the Capitals (1997-2002), Ducks (1993-1997) and Providence College (1987-1993), and Army has coached internationally with Team USA —winning a bronze medal at the 1996 and 2013 IIHF World Hockey Championships and helping the U-18 team finish second at the 2010 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup.
A Hobey Baker Award finalist, Army earned an All-Hockey East First Team selection and was named an ACHA West First-Team All-American as a player at Providence College. He also served as captain his senior season.
Army played one season with the Maine Mariners of the AHL, tallying 27 points in 68 games in 1985-86.
