Darryl Sydor retires and joins the Aeros Staff

Darryl Sydor recently announced his retirement, only to get an offer to help coach the Minnesota Wild's AHL Affiliate in the Houston Aeros as he ends a very strong 18 year career where 10 of those years were with the Dallas Stars, also which included stops in Tampa Bay, Los Angeles, Columbus and Pittsburgh. Included in that was a stellar 1,291 games played as well as 155 playoff games and 2 Stanley Cup Championships with the Dallas Stars (1999) and the Tampa Bay Lighting (2004).

Joining him in Houston will be Brian Wiseman who was the head coach at the University of Priceton and was the team's video coordinator for the Dallas Stars before coming to the Aeros.

Darryl Sydor Profile: www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8458172

Press Release from the Minnesota Wild and Houston Aeros:
http://www.aeros.com/ http://wild.nhl.com/

Darryl Sydor apparently can't enjoy retirement. After ending a stellar 18 year career, 1291 game, 507 point career that included two lifts of the Stanley Cup, Sydor is wasting no time to start his coaching career.

Sydor and former Houston Aeros Brian Wiseman were named Assistant Coaches on the Aeros' Coaching Staff on Tuesday. Both are expected to arrive at the Wild Development Camp this week.

After two months of the Aeros being without a single coach, there is a championship pedigree at the Wild's Top Developmental affiliate. In addition to Sydor's Two Stanley Cup Championship Rings, Yeo has one after winning one as an assistant with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009. Wiseman was a member of Houston's Turner Cup winning team in 1998-99. His Aeros career followed a decorated college career at the University of Michigan, in which he lead the Wolverines to two Frozen Four Appearances.

"We were looking for people that were passionate about the game, had great character and great work ethic," said Yeo. "These two guys fit that bill perfectly, and both bring in a different degree of experience."

"I had the great opportunity to coach him, and I got to see firsthand his professionalism," explained Yeo. "The way he conducted himself as a player is something that will be invaluable to our guys. I knew back when I coached him that he would be a great coach, and this is a great opportunity for him to get started."

Yeo acknowledged that it probably wasn't easy for Sydor to walk away from the game after such an illustrious career.

"You're letting go a big part of your life," said Yeo. "I think it helps that he's staying in the game and he'll get to have a big impact on each and every game."

In addition to resumes, the Houston staff now boasts quite a bit of youth with Yeo (36), Sydor (38) and Wiseman (39) all under 40. Sydor has never coached, and Wiseman spent one year each as an assistant coach at the University of Princeton (ECAC), and as a video coach for the Dallas Stars.

"That's not something that we set out and said "we want to be young," said Yeo. "But I think it's beneficial to the players, in particular Darryl who isn't far removed from the game and he'll know what those players are feeling each and every day."

With two new assistants in Texas, an offseason of change in the Wild org. - albeit much smaller in scale compared to a year ago - is nearing an end. The only coaching item left on the agenda is to find a replacement for Wild assistant coach Mike Ramsay, who stepped down after 8 seasons behind the Wild Bench.


Here's some great Darryl Sydor Videos:

Darryl Sydor's Injury in 2000 Stanley Cup Finals:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO-Z3wPlZF0

Jim Mckenzie and Darryl Sydor in the infamous fight night against Anahiem in October of 1999.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_GNGMwwfHM

Sean Avery VS. Darryl Sydor
www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1IuYIqq6oA