VANCOUVER — Glen Hanlon has left his post as a Vancouver Giants assistant coach to pursue opportunities overseas, the WHL team announced Tuesday.
Hanlon, a 56-year-old Brandon, Man., native, spent the past two seasons with the Giants working under Don Hay. The team said Hanlon intends to pursue a head-coaching position.
“Glen is a great person and coach. He did a great job (as acting head coach) when Don Hay went to the World Junior Championship and we were lucky to keep him around for two years,” Giants general manager Scott Bonner said in a statement.
“We’d like to wish Glen all the best with his new job, and thank him for his contributions to our organization.”
Before joining the Giants, Hanlon served as coach of Dynamo Minsk of Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) in 2009-10. Prior to that, he guided Slovakia and Belarus’s national teams, and worked with a Finnish squad.
From 2003-04 to 2007-08, he coached the NHL’s Washington Capitals after two seasons as an assistant with the club. He also coached the Portland Pirates of the AHL for three seasons and served as a Vancouver Canucks assistant for the same number of campaigns.
Hanlon, a former goaltender, started his coaching career with the Canucks in 1995-96 after playing for 18 pro seasons with Vancouver, St. Louis, New York Rangers, Detroit and a number of minor-league clubs.