The AHL’s Hershey Bears, the affiliate of the Washington Capitals, posted a press release when it was announced that the Red Wings had hired Alex Westlund as their goaltending coach on Friday morning. This got lost in the 2022 NHL Draft, Day 2 shuffle, but I think it’s an important press release to read as it explains the background of someone you probably hadn’t heard of until today:
The Detroit Red Wings announced today that they have hired Alex Westlund as goaltending coach.
Westlund, 46, departs Hershey after serving as the team’s associate goaltending coach for the past five seasons. Under Westlund’s watch, Hershey’s goaltending tandem of Pheonix Copley and Zach Fucale won the Harry “Hap” Holmes Memorial Award in 2020-21, presented to the goaltender(s) on the team which allows the fewest goals per game in the regular season. The Bears allowed an average of 2.33 goals per game, finishing with the fewest goals against in the AHL for the first time since 1996-97. Westlund’s tenure in Hershey has also seen him guide goaltenders Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek, who have each graduated to the NHL.
The New Jersey native joined the Washington organization after spending two seasons as the goalie coach with the DEL’s Augsburg Panther Eishockey Club in Germany, in addition to working with Zagreb of the KHL. His resume also includes experience with USA Hockey, serving as the head goalie coach and evaluator for the New England District, being a member of the goalie evaluation group for the USA Hockey’s Select 17 Festival, and participating in the prestigious Warren Strelow Camp.
Westlund has a page on EliteProspects.com, which states that the native of Flemington Village, New Jersey played a fair amount of AHL and ECHL games, but mostly split his time between the KHL and the ICE Hockey League in Austria.
He retired after the 2014-15 season, and headed to the German League with Ausburger, he spent one year with Medvedscak Zagreb when that Croatian team still existed in the KHL, and he headed to Hershey, PA.
