Robert Emile Francis (born December 5, 1958) is a Canadian-born American former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

player and coach. He played 14 games in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

with the Detroit Red Wings during the 1982–83 season, though most of his career was spent in the minor leagues. He was the head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes of the from June 1999 to February 2004. In 2002 Francis became the first Coyotes' coach to win the Jack Adams Award. He is the son of former NHL general manager and coach

Emile Francis Emile Percival Francis (September 13, 1926 – February 19, 2022), nicknamed "The Cat", was a Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and general manager in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the Chicago Black Hawks and New York Rangers f ...

Coaching career

Francis served as a player-coach with the

Salt Lake Golden Eagles The Salt Lake Golden Eagles were a minor professional hockey team based in Salt Lake City from 1969 to 1994. History They played in the Western Hockey League from 1969 to 1974, the Central Hockey League from 1974 to 1984 and the International H ...

of the International Hockey League (IHL) in 1986, followed by four years as head coach of the IHL's

Utah Grizzlies The Utah Grizzlies are a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL. They play their home games at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah. Franchise history The current Utah Grizzlies franchise started in 1981 as the Nashville South Star ...

. After head coaching stints in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

(AHL) for the

Saint John Flames The Saint John Flames were a Canadian ice hockey team in the American Hockey League from 1993 to 2003 in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. The Calgary Flames bought and relocated the Utica Devils, to be their AHL affiliate. History The Saint J ...

and Providence Bruins, Francis spent two years at the NHL level as an assistant coach to

Pat Burns Patrick John Joseph Burns (April 4, 1952 – November 19, 2010) was a National Hockey League head coach. Over 14 seasons between 1988 and 2004, he coached in 1,019 games with the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, and New Jer ...

of the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

before being hired by the Phoenix Coyotes in 1999. In 2002, after leading the Coyotes to a 40-27-9-6 record, and the most points in the league following that year's Olympic break, Francis was awarded the Jack Adams Award as Coach of the Year. Midway through his fifth season at the helm of the Coyotes in 2004, Francis was fired after a slow start and replaced by assistant coach

Rick Bowness Richard Gary Bowness (born January 25, 1955) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player who is the head coach of the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League (NHL). Bowness played right wing for the Atlanta Flames, Detroit R ...

. On April 26, 2006, Francis signed a two year-contract to coach

HIFK HIFK, the Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors (IFK, Helsingfors) rf (officially abbreviated IFK Helsingfors, colloquially often Helsingfors IFK or Helsingin IFK ) is a multi-sport association based in Helsinki, Finland. Formed in 1897 on ...

in the Finnish

SM-liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...

. On December 19, 2006, Francis's contract was terminated.

Personal life

Although Francis was born in

North Battleford North Battleford is a city in west-central Saskatchewan, Canada. It is the seventh largest city in the province and is directly across the North Saskatchewan River from the Town of Battleford. Together, the two communities are known as "The Batt ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

, he spent much of his youth growing up in Long Beach, New York, while his father was coaching the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

, and holds both Canadian and American citizenship. In September 2012, it was revealed that Francis had lost his balance and equilibrium and required a walker to get around. The symptoms began showing during the

2003–04 NHL season The 2003–04 NHL season was the 87th regular season of the National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup champions were the Tampa Bay Lightning, who won the best of seven series four games to three against the Calgary Flames. For the fourth time in ...

. Francis also revealed his struggle with alcoholism, which played a key factor in his dismissal from

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

NHL coaching

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Francis, Bobby 1958 births Living people Adirondack Red Wings players American men's ice hockey centers American ice hockey coaches Arizona Coyotes coaches Birmingham Bulls (CHL) players Boston Bruins coaches Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey centres Canadian ice hockey coaches Colorado Flames players Detroit Red Wings players Ice hockey coaches from New York (state) Ice hockey people from Saskatchewan Ice hockey players from New York (state) Jack Adams Award winners Muskegon Mohawks players New Hampshire Wildcats men's ice hockey players Oklahoma City Stars players People from Long Beach, New York Sportspeople from North Battleford Providence Bruins coaches Salt Lake Golden Eagles (IHL) players Undrafted National Hockey League players