Nathan Patch And Vaclav sleeps American assistant coaches were assigned to Rochester, joining the staff of the American head coach Seth Appert.
Paetsch is moving behind the bench after spending the past two seasons as a developmental coach for the Buffalo Sabers. In this role, he worked closely with the organization’s top defensive prospects, both in Buffalo and Rochester, playing a key role in the overall development process.
Paetsch retired in 2020 after 17 seasons as a professional defenseman, including 651 regular season games in the AHL with Rochester (2003-06, 2010-11, 2017-20), Syracuse (2010-11) and Grand Rapids (2012-17). ) ). He totaled 52 goals and 207 assists for 259 points with a plus/minus rating of 102, and was an AHL All-Star in 2006.
Paetsch has also skated in 104 postseason games, winning two Calder Cups with Grand Rapids—as an alternate captain in 2013 and as team captain in 2017.
LeRoy’s native Sask was also a four-time recipient of his team’s IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year award for community service, earning honors at Grand Rapids in 2017 and at Rochester in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
A seventh round selection by Buffalo in the 2003 NHL Draft, Paetsch played 167 regular season NHL games with the Sabers and Columbus Blue Jackets, recording seven goals and 35 assists for 42 points. He appeared in one Stanley Cup game as well, starting the Sabers’ lineup in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final in Carolina on June 1, 2006.
Prospal joins America after coaching in his native Czech Republic, most recently for three seasons with HC Ceske Budejovice. He won the league title twice in a row in the second division, Chance Liga, in 2019 and 2020, and was chosen as the best Czech coach of the year in the 2020-2021 season.
Prospal’s coaching experience also features two years as an assistant coach with the Czech national team, including appearances at the Hockey World Cup in 2016 and the Olympics in 2018.
At age 18, Prospal made his debut with the Hershey Bears in 1993 and spent four seasons in the AHL with Hershey and Philadelphia, amassing 226 points in 255 games. He was voted a first team AHL All-Star in 1996-97.
In the NHL, Prospal has played 1,108 games with Philadelphia, Ottawa, Florida, Tampa Bay, Anaheim, Philadelphia, New York Rangers, and Columbus. He was a five-time leading scorer with 20 goals, totaling 255 goals and 510 assists for 765 points.
Internationally, Prospal is a two-time IIHF World Championship gold medalist (2000, 2005), and an Olympic bronze medalist in Turin in 2006.