Chris McSorley

Chris McSorley (born March 22, 1962) is a Canadian ice hockey coach and executive. He has most recently served as general manager of NL side Genève-Servette HC. He is the brother of former NHL player Marty McSorley.[1]

Chris McSorley in March 2010

Career

Born in Hamilton, Ontario, McSorley played professionally in minor leagues in North America, spending some time in the IHL, AHL and ECHL.

McSorley's first head coaching job came in 1989 at the Winston-Salem Thunderbirds of the East Coast Hockey League. He worked for the Richmond Renegades the following season and took over the Toledo Storm for the 1991–92 season. During his three-year tenure at the helm, he led the Storm to back-to-back ECHL championships in 1993 and 1994.[2]

In 1994, McSorley joined the coaching staff of the IHL's Las Vegas Thunder as an assistant, and was promoted to head coach the following season. He remained in that job until the end of the 1997–98 campaign.

McSorley continued his career overseas, taking over the London Knights of the British Elite Ice Hockey League in 1999. He had immediate success, steering the Knights to the EIHL championship his first year. From 2000 to 2004, he also served as head coach of the British national team.[3]

He left London after the 2000–01 season,[4] in which the Knights had advanced to the finals of the IIHF Continental Cup, to accept the position as head coach and general manager at Genève-Servette HC of Switzerland. Between 2005[5] and 2014,[6] he was also a part-owner of the organization. In 2002, McSorley guided the team to promotion to the Swiss top-tier National League A (NLA). McSorley led the team to the NLA finals in 2007–08, 2009–10 and to the semis in 2003–04, 2013–14, 2014–15 and 2015–16. Under his tutelage, Genève-Servette won the 2013 and 2014 Spengler Cup.[7]

After being knocked out in the 2017 NLA quarterfinals by EV Zug, rumours were growing about him leaving Servette.[8] On March 22, 2017, McSorley announced his retirement as head coach of Genève-Servette to focus on his duties as general manager.[9] In early April 2018, he returned to the head coaching position, while keeping his job as general manager.[10] In April 2019, McSorley was replaced by Patrick Emond as Servette head coach, but stayed on as general manager.[11] On July 31, 2020, McSorley was officially relieved of his duties as GM of Servette and was replaced by Marc Gautschi.[12]

International coaching

At the 2012 Spengler Cup, McSorley served as an assistant coach for Team Canada, and helped win the title.

References
  1. Newman, Paul (2001-01-23). "Ice Hockey: McSorley foiled by ban". ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2019-01-04.
  2. "The ECHL - Premier 'AA' Hockey League | ECHL Championship Players". www.echl.com. Archived from the original on 2016-04-03. Retrieved 2016-03-20.
  3. "Ice Hockey Journalists UK". www.ihjuk.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2010-09-21. Retrieved 2016-03-20.
  4. "McSorley quits Knights". BBC. 2001-04-06. Retrieved 2016-03-20.
  5. "L'invité: Chris McSorley". RTSSport.ch (in French). Retrieved 2017-03-17.
  6. "Ge/Servette sans McSorley? L'idée ne séduit pas les sponsors". tdg.ch/. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
  7. "Servette gewinnt den Spengler Cup – weil Chris McSorley besser ist als Napoléon". watson.ch. Retrieved 2016-03-20.
  8. Andrey, Patrick. "Will Chris McSorley leave Genève-Servette HC?". Retrieved 2017-03-18.
  9. Club, www.gshc.ch, GSHC - Site officiel du Genève-Servette Hockey. "Le Genève-Servette Hockey Club redéfinit son organisation - Genève-Servette Hockey Club". www.gshc.ch (in French). Retrieved 2017-03-22.
  10. Club, www.gshc.ch, GSHC - Site officiel du Genève-Servette Hockey. "Retour de Chris McSorley comme Head Coach du GSHC - Genève-Servette Hockey Club". www.gshc.ch (in French). Retrieved 2018-04-03.
  11. "Junioren-Trainer Emond ersetzt bei Servette Chris McSorley". www.fm1today.ch. Retrieved 2019-04-19.
  12. "Changement à la direction sportive - Genève-Servette Hockey Club". www.gshc.ch (in French). Retrieved 2020-08-05.
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