John Hynes had two sets of role models in his life growing up. Certainly, there were his parents, but the people who left an equally impressionable factor in his life were his hockey coaches.
“Other than my parents, I would say my hockey coaches have had some of the biggest impact on my life,” said Hynes, head coach of the Minnesota Wild. “Particularly when I got to high school, my head coach Mike Gaffney, I just had a tremendous amount of respect for him. A real strong role model.”
Hynes’ playing career was cut short due to an injury his senior year at Boston University (where he was a three-year letterman and 1995 NCAA national champion). He studied as a graduate assistant under U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer Jack Parker.
From there it was on to assistant roles at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell (2000-02) and the University of Wisconsin (2002-03) before becoming a U.S. National Team Development Program head coach in Michigan from 2003-09 where he posted an overall record of 216–113–19–9. He helped Team USA capture gold (2006), silver (2004) and bronze (2008) at the IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championships. Hynes was also an assistant with the U.S. National Junior Team that won gold at the 2004 IIHF World Junior Championship.
After success at the NTDP, Hynes moved up to the American Hockey League with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, first as an assistant and eventually as head coach where the Penguins qualified for the playoffs in all five seasons under Hynes including two conference final appearances.
It was in 2015 when Hynes got his first shot in the NHL as head coach of the New Jersey Devils.
Nearly three decades of coaching and no matter the chaos and uncertainty that comes with it, what keeps Hynes coming back?
“Just being able to find that role with a team and really try to bring the best out of these young men.”
