Mitch Love Earns NHL Promotion to Capitals Coaching Staff

The Calgary Wranglers bench is going to look a little different next season, in more ways than one.

After weeks of rumors that Mitch Love was interviewing (and in the running for) a coaching job in Calgary, he landed a job in the NHL — a job that will require relocation. The Washington Capitals announced on Thursday afternoon that Love was hired as an assistant coach. 

Love worked his way up to his head coaching job in the AHL with coaching history in the WHL — nine seasons combined with the Everett Silvertips and Saskatoon Blades. His stint coaching in the AHL was much shorter at only two seasons — one with the Stockton Heat, and the other with the reloaded and renamed Calgary Wranglers. 

In both his seasons coaching in the AHL, Love earned the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award, given to the AHL’s most outstanding coach. He also represented himself and his team at the 2023 AHL All-Star Weekend, serving as the Pacific Division’s head coach. His record coaching in the American Hockey League was an outstanding 96-33-8-3.

The former Wranglers head coach will forever go down in history as the first in team history, and he did a lot of great work in that time. In his first season, Love lead his team to a Pacific Division title and worked with one of the league’s best teams. In his second year, his team earned that division title again, but with a little extra on top. Calgary finished as the best team in the league following the completion of the regular season.

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Both years, his teams had deep playoff runs that were unfortunately cut short by their Western Conference competitors before they could make it to the Calder Cup Finals. Love coached a variety of players that made the NHL jump over the last season and really set a winning culture for his guys. In the ever-adapting ways of the AHL, he didn’t let call-ups or injuries prevent him from putting together a lineup to win hockey games.

Love always carries himself with poise and an even-keel presence. Regardless of the outcome of the game, he was always looking back at the match-ups with a realistic and analysed approach. He knew when to push and he knew when to reward. Love has that winning instinct and led his team to a lot of huge victories — a lot of huge victories he will be able to celebrate at the next level in Washington, D.C. 

His role with the Capitals will primarily focus on the defenseman. This will be Love’s first official time in the NHL as he didn’t quite make it up there as a player. He played in the WHL, AHL, ECHL and CHL over the course of his playing career. His presence will be missed in the Calgary organization. Among the player signings and work to do around the draft, a new AHL Head Coach will also be on the Flames’ list of offseason business.