FILE - In this April 29, 2009 file photo, Calgary Flames' head coach Mike Keenan speaks to the media after the team medicals and locker cleanout in Calgary Canada. The longtime NHL coach has been named as the new coach of Chinese club Kunlun Red Star, which competes in the Russia-based Kontinental Hockey League. The Canadian Press, Jeff McIntosh, File
March 16, 2017 - 6:10 AM
MOSCOW - Mike Keenan is taking charge of a Chinese hockey team.
The longtime NHL coach has been hired to lead Chinese club Kunlun Red Star, which competes in the Russia-based Kontinental Hockey League. Kunlun's aim is to develop Chinese players as the country builds a national team to compete at its first home Winter Olympics in 2022.
Keenan, who ended the New York Rangers' 54-year wait for a Stanley Cup title in 1994, has been instructed to ensure at least five Chinese players get regular ice time on a roster dominated by foreigners.
It's not Keenan's first job outside North America. In 2015, he became the first coach to win NHL and KHL titles when his Metallurg Magnitogorsk team won the KHL's Gagarin Cup.
News from © The Associated Press, 2017