After two relatively successful seasons behind the bench for the Grand Rapids Griffins, head coach Curt Fraser was rewarded with a new two-year deal to remain the team's coach through the 2011-2012 season.
↵Despite the team's drop off in performance this past season, resulting in the first time an IHL or AHL Fraser-coached team had missed the playoffs, he earned the extension in his first season as the Griffins coach:
↵↵↵In his debut season behind the Griffins’ bench in 2008-09, Fraser led the team to an impressive 43-25-6-6 regular season mark, a 28-point improvement in the standings from the prior campaign, and its first-ever playoff upset, a six-game toppling of Hamilton in the North Division Semifinals.
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To boot, Fraser boasts a resume unlike many other at that level, with nearly 20 years of head coaching experience in the NHL, AHL and IHL. In fact, he's the only AHL coach with over 200 games of NHL head-coaching experience and the only active AHL coach with over 200 NHL games played as a player and a coach under his belt.
↵In the upcoming season, Fraser will break the Griffins all-time record for regular season games coached of 208 in the 49th game. If Fraser can lead the Griffins back to the 40-win territory, he will break the regular season wins record of 116.
↵Experienced and successful -- exactly who the Red Wings want molding their young talent.