Al Sims

Allan Eugene Sims (born April 18, 1953) is a Canadian former professional hockey player and head coach in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played ten seasons in the NHL between 1973 and 1983 with the Boston Bruins, Hartford Whalers, Los Angeles Kings. He featured in three Stanley Cup Finals with the Bruins (1974, 1977, 1978).

After retiring he turned to coaching, and remained in this role from 1988 to 2016 in various minor leagues. Sims also served as the head coach of the San Jose Sharks in the NHL during the 1996-97 season.

Playing career In 1972, Sims was the second-round (and first-ever) draft pick of the New York Raiders of the World Hockey Association, but chose to sign with the Boston Bruins who had drafted him in the third round. At Cornwall, Ontario, in Junior Hockey he had played with Bob Murray, a rushing defenceman. When he played for Boston he was paired for two years with the greatest rushing defenceman of all time, Bobby Orr. He played for Boston and its American Hockey League affiliate for six seasons, and then for the Hartford Whalers for the next two.

Coaching career After Sims' retirement from the NHL, he played and coached hockey with Fife Flyers in Scotland. Later he coached in the International League and won the Turner Cup with the Fort Wayne Komets in 1993. Sims was named assistant coach under Ron Wilson with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 1993-1996 before he became head coach of the San Jose Sharks for the 1996–97 NHL season.

Sims then became head coach of the Milwaukee Admirals of the IHL for three years, from 1998 to 2000, moved on to the Central Hockey League for four years and to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins as an assistant coach for a year. In 2007–2008, Sims coached the Fort Wayne Komets of the new IHL to his second Turner Cup championship, beating the Port Huron Icehawks 4 games to 3 after a triple-OT seventh and deciding game. After that, he led them to another Turner Cup in the 2008–09 season. In the following year (2009–10), Sims led the Komets to their third straight (and his personal fourth straight, counting the 1992–93 season) Turner Cup. With the team returning to the CHL after the IHL dissolved, it was eliminated in the second round of the 2010-11 postseason before winning the league in 2011–12. However, the Komets failed to make the postseason in 2012–13, with the team in the ECHL, his final season as their head coach. Sims' final minor league head coaching job came with the Evansville IceMen of the ECHL; he took over during the 2014–15 season and coached them in 2015–16, failing to make the postseason either year. The team was declared dormant in 2016–17 in preparation for moving elsewhere, which turned out to be Jacksonville, Florida in 2017–18, and a new head coach took over.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1971–72 Cornwall Royals QMJHL 58 6 24 30 65 16 2 9 11 15 1971–72 Cornwall Royals MC — — — — — 3 0 0 0 2 1972–73 Cornwall Royals QMJHL 62 13 62 75 54 12 2 5 7 8 1973–74 Boston Bruins NHL 76 3 9 12 22 16 0 0 0 12 1974–75 Boston Bruins NHL 75 4 8 12 73 — — — — — 1975–76 Boston Bruins NHL 48 4 3 7 43 1 0 0 0 0 1975–76 Rochester Americans AHL 21 4 5 9 12 7 1 4 5 11 1976–77 Boston Bruins NHL 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1976–77 Rochester Americans AHL 80 10 32 42 42 12 2 9 11 12 1977–78 Boston Bruins NHL 43 2 8 10 6 8 0 0 0 0 1977–78 Rochester Americans AHL 31 6 13 19 12 — — — — — 1978–79 Boston Bruins NHL 67 9 20 29 28 11 0 2 2 0 1978–79 Rochester Americans AHL 3 0 1 1 4 — — — — — 1979–80 Hartford Whalers NHL 76 10 31 41 30 3 0 0 0 2 1980–81 Hartford Whalers NHL 80 16 36 52 68 — — — — — 1981–82 Los Angeles Kings NHL 8 1 1 2 16 — — — — — 1981–82 New Haven Nighthawks AHL 51 4 27 31 53 — — — — — 1982–83 Los Angeles Kings NHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1982–83 New Haven Nighthawks AHL 76 18 50 68 46 12 3 3 6 10 1984–85 Genève–Servette HC SUI–2 — — — — — — — — — — 1984–85 EV Landshut GER 16 8 12 20 28 4 0 4 4 10 1984–85 New Haven Nighthawks AHL 13 3 6 9 2 — — — — — 1985–86 BSC Preussen GER–2 45 27 47 74 106 — — — — — 1986–87 Fife Flyers GBR 36 52 86 138 95 5 6 11 17 0 1987–88 Fife Flyers GBR 30 33 42 75 51 6 5 11 16 2 1988–89 Fort Wayne Komets IHL 61 7 30 37 32 6 2 2 4 2 NHL totals 475 49 116 165 286 41 0 2 2 14 AHL totals 275 45 134 179 171 31 6 16 22 33

NHL coaching statistics Team Year Regular season Postseason G W L T Pts Finish ResultSJ1996-978227478627th in PacificMissed Playoffs

Personal Sims' son Tyler was the starting goaltender of the Providence College Friars in Hockey East (2004 to 2008), and a reserve goalie for several minor league teams (2007 to 2011).