Marlies hire Rob Davison as assistant coach

The Toronto Marlies have made a hiring this afternoon, adding Rob Davison to the staff as an assistant coach. Now, I know you’re going to say, that name sounds familiar, and that’s because he’s Vesa Toskala’s sworn enemy:

But there’s more to Davison’s story than that goal. After retiring from the game as captain of the Worcester Sharks in 2013/14, the St. Catharines native headed back to Salzburg, Austria, to join EC Salzburg, with whom he played parts of two seasons with in the past, to become their assistant coach. The Red Bull-owned organization won back-to-back championships under his watch, leading him to seek a bigger challenge in a tougher league.

Last year, Davison was the assistant coach for the KHL’s Dynamo Minsk, joining former Blackhawks draft pick and pro player Craig Woodcroft in creating one of the league’s least experienced coaching staffs. Despite this, the team did very well, finishing with a 37-19-4 record before losing to eventual champions and league powerhouse SKA St. Petersburg in the second round of the Gagarin Cup Playoffs.

Davison joins the staff to replace Gord Dineen, who parted ways with the Marlies in February and was recently hired by the Rochester Americans.

The official press release for his hiring can be found here.