Mitch Love (born June 15, 1984) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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 hock ...

left-winger,

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

and current head coach of the

Calgary Wranglers The Calgary Wranglers are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary, that began play in the 2022–23 American Hockey League (AHL) season. The team plays at the Scotiabank Saddledome, the home of their NHL affiliate team, the Calgary Flam ...

of 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 Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

. Love played the role of both a

pest Pest or The Pest may refer to: Science and medicine * Pest (organism), an animal or plant deemed to be detrimental to humans or human concerns ** Weed, a plant considered undesirable * Infectious disease, an illness resulting from an infection ** ...

and an

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during his hockey career. Averaging 3.4 penalty minutes a game over his entire career and posting a league leading 34 fights during the 2008-09 AHL season.

Career

Undrafted at the major junior level, Love was able to make the WHL's Moose Jaw Warriors for a pair of games in the 1999–00 season, before landing a full time role for the 2000–01 season. Later in his junior career he would play for the

Swift Current Broncos The Swift Current Broncos are a junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League. Founded during 1967 in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, the Broncos played seven seasons before relocating to Lethbridge from 1974 to 1986 as the Lethbridge Broncos ...

and Everett Silvertips. Leading the league in penalty minutes and capturing a Broncos record during the 2002–03 season. After going undrafted in the

NHL 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 ...

, and aging out of the WHL, Love was signed to an entry level contract by the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...

, and joined their AHL affiliate, the Lowell Lock Monsters for the 2005–06 season. He bounced between AHL teams, spending one year each with the

Albany River Rats The Albany River Rats were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Albany, New York at the Times Union Center. History Before the formation of the franchise Without a viable indoor arena with a ...

Lake Erie Monsters The Cleveland Monsters are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). The team began play in 2007 as the Lake Erie Monsters and since 2015 has served as the top affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hock ...

, Houston Aeros, and

Peoria Rivermen Peoria Rivermen is the name of four minor league hockey clubs: *Peoria Rivermen (IHL), named as such 1984–1996, formerly the Peoria Prancers 1982–1984 *Peoria Rivermen (ECHL), 1996–2005 *Peoria Rivermen (AHL), 2005–2013 *Peoria Rivermen (SP ...

, transitioning to playing left wing late in his AHL career. On September 8, 2010, Love was signed as a free agent by the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs. of the CHL. After a single season with the Mudbugs, Love announced his retirement from playing to join the Western Hockey League's Everett Silvertips as an assistant coach on August 13, 2011. After seven seasons as an assistant with the Silvertips, Love was hired as the head coach of the WHL's Saskatoon Blades for the 2018–19 season. After three seasons as head coach in Saskatoon he was hired by the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

to be the head coach of their

affiliate, the

Stockton Heat The Stockton Heat were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that played from 2015 to 2022. The team was based in Stockton, California, and was affiliated with the National Hockey League (NHL) Calgary Flames. The Hea ...

(now the

) beginning with the 2021–22 season. Love captured the

Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award The Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award is an American Hockey League (AHL) trophy awarded annually to the most outstanding coach during the season, as voted upon by members of the AHL media. The award is named for Louis Pieri, a long-time contributor ...

as the leagues most outstanding coach during his first season with the Heat.

Career statistics

Coaching record

References

External links

* 1984 births Living people Albany River Rats players Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs players Canadian ice hockey defencemen Everett Silvertips players Houston Aeros (1994–2013) players Johnstown Chiefs players Lake Erie Monsters players Lowell Lock Monsters players Moose Jaw Warriors players Peoria Rivermen (AHL) players Swift Current Broncos players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States {{canada-icehockey-defenceman-1980s-stub