Trevor Letowski

Trevor Letowski
Born (1977-04-05) April 5, 1977 (age 47)
Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb)
Position Right Wing
Shot Right
Played for Phoenix Coyotes
Vancouver Canucks
Columbus Blue Jackets
Carolina Hurricanes
HC Fribourg-Gottéron
Barys Astana
National team  Canada
NHL draft 174th overall, 1996
Phoenix Coyotes
Playing career 1997–2010

Trevor Letowski (born April 5, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger and current assistant coach for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected in the seventh round, 174th overall, by the Phoenix Coyotes in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft. Letowski also played for the Vancouver Canucks, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Carolina Hurricanes. Following retirement from active play, he has served as head coach of the OHL's Sarnia Sting and Windsor Spitfires.

Playing career

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Letowski began his career playing junior hockey for the Sarnia Sting of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). He was selected in the seventh round, 174th overall, by the Phoenix Coyotes in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft. The Sting named him Rookie of the Year for the 1994–95 season. Letowski won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 1997 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships held in Geneva, Switzerland. A banner depicting his number 17 in Canadian national team colours hangs at the Progressive Auto Sales Arena in Sarnia, Ontario, where the Sting play.

After his third and final season with the Sting, Letowski spent the 1997–98 season with the Springfield Falcons, Phoenix's American Hockey League affiliate. He made his NHL debut during the 1998–99 season and became a regular in the Coyotes lineup, playing two full seasons thereafter. Midway through the 2001–02 season on December 28, 2001, Letowski was traded by the Coyotes, along with Todd Warriner and Tyler Bouck, to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Drake Berehowsky and Denis Pederson.

Letowski was signed by the Columbus Blue Jackets as a unrestricted free agent on July 3, 2003,[1] and played two seasons for the Jackets split by a term in Switzerland with HC Fribourg-Gottéron of the Swiss Nationalliga A during the 2004–05 NHL lockout. He then joined the Carolina Hurricanes as a free agent on July 6, 2006 and played there for two seasons.[2]

During a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on October 14, 2006, Letowski was hit by the Penguins' Colby Armstrong following a pass in the Penguins' zone and was knocked unconscious and removed from the ice on a stretcher; there was no penalty assessed on the play.[3][4]

Letowski joined Barys Astana as a free agent on August 3, 2008.[5] Following the conclusion of the 2009–10 season, his second year with Astana, Letowski announced his retirement from active play.

Post-playing career

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Letwoski returned to where he began his playing career taking up an assistant coaching role with the Sarnia Sting on April 17, 2010 for the 2010–11 season.[6] However, on February 6, 2011, Dave MacQueen was fired as head coach and GM whereas Letowski took over serving as interim head coach.[7] In 18 games as head coach, the Sting went 7–10–1, and ultimately missed the playoffs for the second straight season. He returned to his assistant position under the Sting's next head coach, Jacques Beaulieu, in 2011–12 before being promoted to head coach on June 14, 2013.

On July 9, 2015, Letowski was hired by the Windsor Spitfires as their assistant coach, after previous assistant coach Bob Jones was hired by the Oshawa Generals. After two seasons, he was promoted to head coach of the Spitfires in 2017 when Rocky Thompson left to become the head coach of the Chicago Wolves in the American Hockey League (AHL). In 2021, he was hired by the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL) as an assistant coach.[8]

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1993–94 Thunder Bay Kings AAA Bantam 64 41 60 101 48
1994–95 Sarnia Sting OHL 66 22 19 41 33 4 0 1 1 9
1995–96 Sarnia Sting OHL 66 36 63 99 66 10 9 5 14 10
1996–97 Sarnia Sting OHL 55 35 73 108 51 12 9 12 21 20
1997–98 Springfield Falcons AHL 75 11 20 31 26 4 1 0 1 2
1998–99 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 14 2 2 4 2
1998–99 Springfield Falcons AHL 67 32 35 67 46 3 1 0 1 2
1999–2000 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 82 19 20 39 20 5 1 1 2 4
2000–01 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 77 7 15 22 32
2001–02 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 33 2 6 8 4
2001–02 Vancouver Canucks NHL 42 7 10 17 15 6 0 1 1 8
2002–03 Vancouver Canucks NHL 78 11 14 25 36 6 0 1 1 0
2003–04 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 73 15 17 32 16
2004–05 HC Fribourg-Gottéron NLA 9 5 4 9 6
2005–06 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 81 10 18 28 36
2006–07 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 61 2 6 8 18
2007–08 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 75 9 9 18 30
2008–09 Barys Astana KHL 37 7 7 14 30 3 1 0 1 2
2009–10 Barys Astana KHL 54 3 10 13 24 3 0 0 0 0
NHL totals 616 84 117 201 209 17 1 3 4 12
KHL totals 91 10 17 27 54 6 1 0 1 2

International

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Medal record
Representing  Canada
Ice hockey
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 1997 Geneva
Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM
1997 Canada WJC 7 2 1 3 4
2000 Canada WC 9 0 2 2 6
Junior totals 7 2 1 3 4
Senior totals 9 0 2 2 6

Coaching record

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Team Year Regular season Post season
G W L OTL Pts Finish Result
SAR 2010–11 18 7 10 1 (57) 4th in West Missed playoffs
SAR 2013–14 68 17 44 7 41 5th in West Missed playoffs
SAR 2014–15 68 29 32 7 65 2nd in West Lost in First Round
WSR 2017–18 68 32 30 6 70 3rd in West Lost in First Round
WSR 2018–19 68 25 33 10 60 4th in West Lost in First Round
WSR 2019–20 62 34 20 8 76 3rd in West No playoffs

References

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  1. ^ "Jackets sign Marchant, Letowski". ESPN.com. 2003-07-03. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
  2. ^ "Hurricanes sign Blue Jacket's Letowski". ESPN.com. 2006-07-06. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
  3. ^ "Hurricanes' Letowski hurt". sports.yahoo.com. 2006-10-14. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
  4. ^ "Canes forward Letowski knocked out, carried off ice". ESPN.com. 2006-10-14. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
  5. ^ "Letowski signs with Astana" (in Russian). allhockey.ru. 2008-08-03. Retrieved 2009-02-12. [dead link]
  6. ^ "Sting welcome Letowski home". The Observer. 2010-04-17. Archived from the original on 2010-04-18. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
  7. ^ "Sting relieve Dave MacQueen of duties". Sarnia Sting web site. 2011-02-06. Retrieved 2011-02-06.
  8. ^ "Spitfires' Trevor Letowski Named Assistant Coach of Montreal Canadiens". OurSports Central. 2021-07-21.
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