J. D. Forrest

Justin David "J.D." Forrest (born April 15, 1981) is an American professional ice hockey coach and former professional defenseman.

Playing career Forrest spent four seasons playing for Boston College, where he was part of the team that won the NCAA Championship in 2001 and earned Hockey East All-Rookie Team honors. In 2003, he was named a Second-Team All-American by the ACHA and served as an alternate captain during his final two seasons before graduating in 2004. Following college, he launched a long professional hockey career that included time in North America and Europe, playing in Finland's Liiga, Switzerland's National League A, and the American Hockey League. He concluded his playing career in 2014 after spending two seasons with the Augsburger Panther in Germany's Deutsche Eishockey Liga.

Coaching career After retiring from professional hockey, Forrest began his coaching career as an assistant with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program, where he helped lead the team to a gold medal at the 2015 IIHF Under-18 World Championship. He then spent a season coaching the affiliate team of EC Red Bull Salzburg in Austria. On August 2, 2016, the Pittsburgh Penguins appointed him as an assistant coach for their AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

He was promoted to the position of head coach on September 11, 2020.

On April 28, 2024, the Penguins announced that they would not be extending the contract of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Head Coach J.D. Forrest. He subsequently joined the Syracuse Crunch as an assistant coach.

Awards and honors Award Year All-Hockey East Rookie Team 2000–01 All-Hockey East Second Team 2002–03 AHCA East Second-Team All-American 2002–03

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1997–98 US NTDP U18 NAHL 41 2 16 18 20 5 0 1 1 2 1997–98 US NTDP Juniors USHL 5 2 0 2 17 — — — — — 1998–99 US NTDP U18 NAHL 2 1 0 1 4 — — — — — 1998–99 US NTDP Juniors USHL 48 5 21 26 34 — — — — — 1999–2000 US NTDP U18 NAHL 49 6 28 34 46 3 0 0 0 6 1999–2000 US NTDP Juniors USHL 8 0 0 0 2 — — — — — 2000–01 Boston College HE 38 6 16 22 40 — — — — — 2001–02 Boston College HE 35 8 19 27 28 — — — — — 2002–03 Boston College HE 34 6 25 31 28 — — — — — 2003–04 Boston College HE 37 4 13 17 26 — — — — — 2004–05 SaiPa SM-liiga 53 7 12 19 44 — — — — — 2005–06 Ässät SM-liiga 43 6 5 11 69 14 0 4 4 14 2007–08 Albany River Rats AHL 19 3 7 10 16 — — — — — 2007–08 Florida Everblades ECHL 12 1 7 8 6 — — — — — 2007–08 Elmira Jackals ECHL 2 0 0 0 2 — — — — — 2007–08 Worcester Sharks AHL 16 1 4 5 10 — — — — — 2008–09 Kärpät SM-liiga 52 5 28 33 60 15 3 3 6 10 2009–10 Kärpät SM-liiga 17 2 5 7 20 — — — — — 2009–10 Kloten Flyers NLA 30 7 20 27 18 10 0 5 5 2 2010–11 Kärpät SM-liiga 41 3 20 23 22 7 0 1 1 4 2011–12 Malmö Redhawks Allsv 50 4 13 17 32 1 0 0 0 0 2012–13 Augsburger Panther DEL 32 2 13 15 24 2 0 0 0 2 2013–14 Augsburger Panther DEL 51 4 18 22 20 — — — — — SM-liiga totals 206 23 70 93 215 36 3 8 11 28

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1999 United States WJC18 6 1 2 3 10 2001 United States WJC 7 1 1 2 8 Junior totals 13 2 3 5 18