During a press conference on Tuesday morning, Griffins GM Ryan Martin announced Ben Simon as the new Head Coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins.

This is Simon’s first Head Coach position in the AHL, but he is not unfamiliar with the head coaching role – having led the Cinncinati Cyclones of the ECHL to the 2014 Kelly Cup Finals against the Alaska Aces. He also was a Player/Head Coach of the Sheffield Steelers of the EIHL in 2010-11.

Simon was brought on as an Assistant Coach of the Griffins along with Todd Nelson in 2015-16, and was a part of the Calder Cup Championship team in 2017. He has also been in the same role in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies in 2014-15, and the Rockford IceHogs from 2011-2013.

He is not unfamiliar with the Griffins from a player role as well – Simon played 21 games in the 2006-07 season for the Griffins.

At 39-years-old, he is one of the younger coaches in the AHL and looks to have a bright future ahead of him and improving on the experience he already has as a coach.

Simon has a daunting task ahead of as the Head Coach for the Griffins – expecting a massive youth injection. Dennis Cholowski, Givani Smith, David Pope, Chrisoffer Ehn, and Libor Sulak, are just some examples of young players that will be first-time Griffins and experiencing North American professional hockey for the first time. Development will be a big focus for the upcoming Griffins season.