RALEIGH Cory Stillman, who won a Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006 and later returned to the team in a front office role, has been named head coach of the Ontario Hockey League’s Sudbury Wolves. Stillman, who had 727 points in 1,025 games during his NHL career, had been Hurricanes director of forwards development since June 2012. Stillman replaces David Matsos, who couldn’t come to terms on a contract extension with the Wolves.”I am excited about the opportunity with the Sudbury Wolves,” Stillman said in a press release from the Wolves. “The opportunity became available and the timing was perfect for my family and my career aspirations. … As a coach, and mentor to these young men, we need to teach players the proper way to prepare, how to raise their personal best and build their strength both mentally and physically.”Stillman, 43, does not have any head coaching experience, but was also in a player development role with the Florida Panthers prior to rejoining the Hurricanes. “Cory is very detail-oriented and has a smart hockey mind,” Hurricanes general manager Ron Francis said in a statement. “He’s done fine work for us on the development side and we are confident he will be successful with the Sudbury Wolves.” Stillman, a native of Peterborough, Ont., played in the OHL with Windsor and Peterborough in the early ’90s and was the sixth overall pick by the Calgary Flames in the 1992 NHL draft. He played in 16 NHL seasons with six different teams Calgary, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Carolina, Ottawa and Florida and won the Stanley Cup with the Lightning in 2004 and then the following season after the year lost to the NHL lockout with Carolina in 2006.The Wolves were eliminated in the first round of this season’s OHL playoffs by the Oshawa Generals, the first time they reached the postseason in Matsos’ two and a half years with the team.
