On Friday, the Reading Royals promoted assistant coach James Henry to Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations.
James Henry (31-years-old) spent the last year as an assistant coach under Kirk MacDonald, who resigned last week. The Winnipeg, Manitoba, native becomes the eighth coach in franchise history. Under MacDonald, the Royals went 45-17-9 in 71 games, tying the single-season franchise record for points (99 points), and qualified for the playoffs, reaching the Eastern Conference Semifinals in a game seven loss the Newfoundland.
“I’d like to thank the Royals organization for having faith in me moving up from assistant coach to head coach. I’d like to also thank Kirk McDonald for the experience I gained underneath him as well as my family for their support,” said Henry at royalshockey.com. “This past season was quite eventful for my family as we added our daughter Tillie to the group. We’re excited to play a bigger role in Reading going forward.”
Henry played seven seasons in the ECHL with the Stockton/Adirondack Thunder with 93 goals and 216 assists (309 points) in 441 games. In the playoffs, Henry had seven goals and 19 assists (26 points). Henry is the all-time leader for the Adirondack Thunder with 69 goals and 161 assists in 303 games.
“We’re proud to formally bring James on board as the Royals’ next head coach,” said Royals GM David Farrar. “We’re confident that James will do an exceptional job as the leader of our hockey operations department, and we’re excited by the prospects of the next era of Royals hockey with James at the helm.”
The Royals open the 2022-23 season on October 21st, 2022, against the Newfoundland Growlers.
