Thomas heads to Providence as assistant coach

Matt Thomas, who has served as head coach of the Cincinnati Cyclones since the 2018-19 season, has been named an assistant coach with the American Hockey League's Providence Bruins.

Thomas has amassed a 431-255-96 record in 11 seasons as an ECHL head coach with Atlantic City, Fresno, Stockton and Cincinnati. He ranks sixth in league history in wins and games coached. He has been selected to coach in three ECHL All-Star Classics, tied for the most in league history, and was the 2018-19 recipient of the John Brophy Award as ECHL Coach of the Year.

Thomas is the ECHL's all-time leader in postseason games coached (108) and ranks second in postseason wins (54). He led Stockton to the 2013 Kelly Cup Finals and captured a Kelly Cup title as an assistant coach with Atlantic City in 2003.

In Providence, Thomas will be reunited with Bruins' head coach Ryan Mougenel, who was promoted to that role earlier this summer after serving as an assistant coach for the previous two seasons. Mougenel played under Thomas in Atlantic City in 2002-03 before later serving as an assistant coach on Thomas' staffs in Fresno and Stockton from 2005-10.

Thomas is the third ECHL head coach to be hired by an AHL club this offseason. Former Maine head coach Riley Armstrong was hired as an assistant coach by Lehigh Valley while former Newfoundland head coach John Snowden was hired as an assistant coach by Toronto. In addition, former Jacksonville head coach Jason Christie, the ECHL all-time leader in wins by a head coach, was hired as an assistant coach by the National Hockey League's Buffalo Sabres, while former Newfoundland assistant coach Darryl Williams was hired as an assistant coach by the Philadelphia Flyers.