The Washington Capitals found their replacement for Scott Arniel and they didn’t have to look very far.

The Capitals are promoting Hershey Bears head coach Scott Allen into the position. Allen, just like Arniel did, will work the Capitals’ forwards and penalty kill. He joins assistant coaches Kevin McCarthy, Blaine Forsythe, and goaltending coach Scott Murray already on Peter Laviolette’s staff.

Allen spent the last three seasons in Hershey, two as an assistant coach and one as the team’s bench boss. The Bears went 34-32-6-4 last season, but Allen managed to keep the ship straight despite a massive amount of callups to a Washington team plagued by injury and coronavirus. Nine different rookies scored their first NHL goals in Washington while Connor McMichael, Brett Leason, and Aliaksei Protas spent large chunks of the season in DC.

“I have felt privileged and honored to have spent these last three seasons coaching in Hershey,” Allen said in a release. “The history of this franchise speaks for itself, but it’s been the people that have made it so special. I would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who has enhanced my time in Hershey, including the players, staff, management, Hershey Entertainment and Resorts, new found friends, and of course the incredible, passionate Bears fans. Thank you Hershey. I’m going to miss you.”

Allen, 56, has coached for over 25 years, which includes stops in the NHL with the New York Islanders (2009-12), the Florida Panthers (2016-17), and the Arizona Coyotes (2017-19) as an assistant coach.

Such a great move, so great with the guys in Hershey, outstanding NHL work on the PK with Arizona. Love this, congrats Scott! https://t.co/uppYecEBLy

— John Walton (@JohnWaltonPxP) July 25, 2022

Hershey will now begin its search for a new head coach for a second straight year. The year before they lost former head coach Spencer Carbury after he was hired by the Toronto Maple Leafs to be an assistant coach.

The team also lost goaltending coach Alex Westlund this offseason to the Detroit Red Wings.

Hershey’s video coach Emily Engel-Natzke was also promoted to Washington as well.

Capitals Name Scott Allen Assistant Coach

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals have named Scott Allen as an assistant coach, senior vice president and general manager Brian MacLellan announced today. Allen, who will primarily work with the Capitals’ forwards and penalty kill, will join assistant coaches Kevin McCarthy, Blaine Forsythe and goaltending coach Scott Murray on head coach Peter Laviolette’s staff.

Allen, 56, joins Washington after spending the previous three seasons with the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL). Allen served as an assistant coach for two seasons before being named Hershey’s head coach ahead of the 2021-22 season. Under Allen, Hershey finished with a record of 34-32-6-4, clinching a Calder Cup Playoff berth, and ranked tied for 11th in the AHL in goals against (209).

The New Bedford, Massachusetts native brings more than 25 years of professional coaching experience, which includes assistant positions with the New York Islanders (2009-12), the Florida Panthers (2016-17) and the Arizona Coyotes (2017-19). With Arizona, Allen worked with the Coyotes’ defensemen and penalty kill. During the 2018-19 season, Arizona ranked tied for first in the NHL in penalty kill percentage (85.0) and tied for fifth in goals against per game (2.68). In Allen’s one season with Florida, the Panthers finished with the second-best penalty kill percentage in the NHL (85.3).

Allen has coached in the AHL for 14 seasons, serving as an assistant coach with the San Antonio Rampage (2002-04, 2014-15), the Lowell Lock Monsters/Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights (2004-07), the Quad City Flames (2007-09), the Peoria Rivermen (2012-13), the Chicago Wolves (2013-14) and the Portland Pirates (2015-16). Allen has additionally served as an interim head coach for parts of three seasons, including with San Antonio in 2002-03 and 2003-04, and with Portland in 2015-16.

In addition to his NHL and AHL coaching experience, Allen has worked in the ECHL as an assistant and head coach, beginning as an assistant in 1996 with the Johnstown Chiefs. Allen was named Johnstown’s head coach in 1997 and went on to guide the Chiefs to three straight Kelly Cup Playoff appearances from 1999-00 to 2001-02, reaching the American Conference Championship twice.

Prior to joining the coaching ranks, Allen played professionally for 10 seasons in the All-American Hockey League, Atlantic Coast Hockey League, Colonial Hockey League, Central Hockey League and ECHL. Allen, a forward, won back-to-back Kelly Cups with the Carolina Thunderbirds in 1989 and the Greensboro Monarchs in 1990.

Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong/RMNB