On Thursday afternoon, the New York Islanders announced that they have hired Mitch Korn as their new director of goaltending. Korn will be joining former Capitals head coach Barry Trotz and former Capitals assistant head coach Lane Lambert on the Islanders squad. Korn will be working with the Islanders’ newest goalie coach Piero Greco.
Korn spent three years with the Washington Capitals as goaltending coach and the previous year as the director of goaltending. He coached Braden Holtby during the 2014-15 season, where Holtby tallied a NHL career high of 1,887 saves, played the most games at 73, and finished second in wins at 41. Holtby also won his 2015-16 Vezina Trophy under Korn.
#Isles News: Mitch Korn has been named Director of Goaltending. He is coming off winning the Stanley Cup with the Washington Capitals last season.
Details: https://t.co/EhS3inSvvq
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) July 26, 2018
Korn became the Capitals’ director of goaltending ahead of the 2017-18 season. The move was made so that he could scale back his schedule, and spend more time at home. He returned to limited day-to-day operations when goaltender Braden Holtby went through a difficult stretch during February and March.
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The New York Islanders announced today that Mitch Korn has been named Director of Goaltending.
Korn spent the past season as the Director of Goaltending and three previous as Goaltending Coach, all with the Washington Capitals. During his time in Washington, the Capitals won two consecutive Presidents’ Trophies (2015-16 and 2016-17) and the franchise’s first Stanley Cup (2018). At the completion of the 2014-15 season, under Korn’s coaching, Capitals’ goalie Braden Holtby finished with the most saves (1,887), played the most games (73) and finished second in wins (41). The following season, Holtby tied Hall of Fame netminder, Martin Brodeur’s NHL record of 48 victories and won the Vezina Trophy as the top goaltender in the National Hockey League.
Prior to his time with Washington, Korn spent 16 seasons as the Goaltending Coach for the Nashville Predators. The 2018-19 season is Korn’s 28th coaching in the NHL. Korn worked with all netminders in the Nashville system during his tenure with the Predators and helped develop several into elite NHL goaltenders. Under Korn’s direction, Pekka Rinne was named a finalist for the Vezina Trophy in 2011 and 2012. Korn also worked with two-time Czech Olympian, 2010 World Champion and NHL All-Star Tomas Vokoun.
Before joining the Predators in 1998, Korn spent seven seasons (1991-98) with the Buffalo Sabres, working with Hockey Hall-of-Fame goalie and two-time Hart Trophy-winner Dominik Hasek. While working with Korn, Hasek captured four Vezina Trophies and led the NHL in save percentage five times. At the time, Sabres goaltending tandem of Hasek and Grant Fuhr captured the NHL’s Jennings Trophy (lowest team goals-against average) during the 1994-95 season.
Korn began his coaching career at Kent State University in 1979 shortly after ending his playing career at the school. He worked at Miami University’s Goggin Ice Center in Oxford, Ohio, for 30 years and coached the school’s goalies until joining the Sabres in 1991.
