Bob Francis

Bob Francis
Date of birth	5th December 1958
place of birth	North Battleford , Saskatchewan , Canada
size	175 cm
Weight	79 kg
position	center
Career stations
1976-1980	University of New Hampshire
1980-1981	Muskegon Mohawks Birmingham Bulls
1981-1982	Oklahoma City Stars
1982-1983	Detroit Red Wings
1983-1984	Colorado Flames
1984-1987	Salt Lake Golden Eagles

Robert Emile "Bob" Francis (born December 5, 1958 in North Battleford , Saskatchewan ) is a former Canadian ice hockey player and coach who played in the 1982/83 season for the Detroit Red Wings in the National Hockey League and from 1999 to 2004 trained the Phoenix Coyotes .

Career

Francis moved to New York with his parents at a young age because his father, Emile Francis, was the general manager of the New York Rangers . As a junior player, he was with Rod Langway at the University of New Hampshire and played for their team.

In the senior division, he played in the minor leagues for the Muskegon Mohawks in the International Hockey League and the Birmingham Bulls and Oklahoma City Stars in the Central Hockey League . For the 1982/83 season he signed a contract with the Detroit Red Wings as a free agent . After good performance on the farm team with the Adirondack Red Wings in the American Hockey League , he soon made the jump to the NHL team and scored two goals in the 14 games he played for the Red Wings. Shortly before the turn of the year he was given to the Calgary Flames , but there he never made the jump into the NHL squad and played in the CHL with the Colorado Flames . His last team were the Salt Lake Golden Eagles in the IHL, with whom he won the Turner Cup in his last active year in 1987 .

In Salt Lake City, where he ended his active career, he began his coaching career immediately afterwards. After two years as an assistant coach, he took over the Golden Eagles for four years as head coach. In 1993 he moved to the AHL to the Saint John Flames , the then farm team of the Calgary Flames. After two years he took over the Providence Bruins in the AHL and was promoted to assistant coach of the Boston Bruins after two years .

For the 1999/2000 season , the Phoenix Coyotes brought him to the NHL as head coach. In 2002 he was honored with the Jack Adams Award as the best NHL coach . After he could no longer build on previous successes with the team in the 2003/04 season , he was replaced by Rick Bowness after 64 games .

In 2006 he took over the Finnish team HIFK Helsinki , but they parted ways with him before the turn of the year.

NHL statistics

	Seasons	Games	Gates	Assists	Points	Penalty minutes
Regular season	1	14th	2	0	2	0
Playoffs	-	-	-	-	-	-

Sporting successes

• Turner Cup : 1987

Personal awards

• CHL First All-Star Team: 1982
• Ken McKenzie Trophy : 1982
• Phil Esposito Trophy : 1982
• Tommy Ivan Trophy : 1982
• Jack Adams Award : 2002

Web links

• Bob Francis at hockeydb.com (English)
• Bob Francis at legendsofhockey.net (English)