Cincinnati Swords announce coaching change

December 30, 2014

The Cincinnati Swords, proud members of the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL), have announced a change at the head coaching position. 

 

Former head coach Lee Lansdowne has been relieved of his duties and current President and General Manager Ryan Colville will take over the head coaching duties effective immediately.

 

Current assistant coaches Kelly Friedman and Kyle Forte will remain on staff.

 

"It was a difficult decision making a change.  Lee Lansdowne gave the Swords many great years and impacted many players both on and off the ice.  We wish him luck in his future endeavors,” said Colville. “We felt that a change needed to be made and a fresh start was necessary as the Swords organization continues to progress towards the goal of being one of the top junior teams in the country."

 

Back on August 14th, the Swords underwent an ownership change that consisted of the sale of the team from the Queen City Hockey Association, Inc. to the Miami Valley Hockey Association, Inc, (MVHA) owned by Ryan and Jim Colville.

 

Colville steps behind the bench with plenty of hockey experience. After playing junior hockey in Canada, Ryan was given the opportunity to play Division III NCAA with Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin.  He spent two years at Lawrence before knee injuries ended his career. 

 

After leaving Lawrence, Colville was given an opportunity to intern with the Columbus Blue Jackets as the Assistant Video Coach while finishing college at The Ohio State University.  He spent three seasons in Columbus learning from coaches’ like Ken Hitchcock and Gerard Gallant before being hired as the Head Video Coach with the Los Angeles Kings. 

 

In his five seasons with the Kings he saw firsthand the transformation of a franchise from near last place in his first season to Stanley Cup Champions in his 4th season and a Conference Finals appearance in his 5th season.  All while continuing to learn coaching under great coaches’ like Darryl Sutter, Terry Murray and John Stevens.

 

The Swords return to the ice on January 3rd with a road game against the Metro Jets where Colville will make his head coaching debut.