Winnipeg to name Noel head coach

Jun 23, 2011 - 11:57 PM Toronto, ON (Sports Network) - The new Winnipeg franchise will reportedly name Claude Noel its new head coach.

Sportsnet.ca revealed on Thursday that Noel, most recently the head coach for the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League, will be named to the post as early as this weekend. He will replace Craig Ramsay, who was let go by the new franchise ownership.

Noel's lone NHL coaching experience came at the end of the 2009-10 season with Columbus, when he finished the season at 10-8-6 after Ken Hitchcock was fired.

The 55-year-old Ontario native went 43-30-7 with the Moose last year and guided the club, a farm team for the Vancouver Canucks, to the second round of the playoffs.

Though he played in just seven NHL games with the Washington Capitals during the 1979-80 season, Noel was a scorer in several minor leagues.

His post-playing coaching career began with Roanoke in the ECHL in 1990, and culminated with a Calder Cup championship and coach of the year honors with the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL in 2004.

Three years later, Noel was elevated to an assistant with Columbus.

Mike Haviland, assistant coach with the Chicago Blackhawks, was the only other man in the running for the position.