Corey Schwab will head into his ninth season in the Coyotes' organization this fall. (Submitted photo/Arizona Coyotes)

By Martin Martinson

Multi-year extension

Battlefords local, Schwab re-ups as Coyotes goalie coach

Aug 29, 2023 | 6:29 AM

For the the better part of the last decade, Battlefords local and Stanley Cup champion, Corey Schwab has been the man behind the man with the mask for the Arizona Coyotes.

Coming off his eighth season as goalie coach with the organization, the last seven of which with the big club, the team announced Monday a new multi-year extension to keep Schwab with the desert dogs for the next few years, something he said he’s looking forward to.

“It’s nice to have an opportunity to be able to continue working with the Coyotes, I’m going into my ninth year with them and every year at the start of the season, as we get closer to training camp, I feel fortunate to be able to continue coaching in the NHL and with the Coyotes,” he said.

“Hockey’s been my life, and I enjoy going to the rink every day, being around the guys, the practices, and most of all, just the relationships I’ve been able to build with the goalies I’ve worked with.”

That list of goaltenders includes each of the last two starting netminders to win the Stanley Cup championship: Darcy Kuemper, who spent the better part of four seasons with the Coyotes from 2018-21 before winning the Cup with Colorado in 2022, and Adin Hill, who was also with the Coyotes from 2017-21, before backstopping the Vegas Golden Knights to their first championship in franchise history back in the spring.

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“Adin was a draft pick of ours and came up through our system and it’s great to be able to see goalies I’ve worked with go on to have success even when they leave and go to a different team,” he said.

“It’s a lot of fun to be able to follow them both in the playoffs and I’m rooting for them to have success because I know how hard they’ve worked over the years and all the sacrifices they’ve made to get where they are. Just to be able to see them succeed, it sure makes you feel good at the end of the day.”

Schwab said he’s hopeful another goaltender who can bring a similar impact to the Coyotes in the team’s aspirations moving forward can be recently turned 27-year-old, Karel Vejmelka.

Schwab, pictured here working alongside Karel Vejmelka at Coyotes practice. (Submitted photo/Arizona Coyotes)

A right-handed catching netminder from Trebic, CZE., at 6-foot-4, 224 pounds, Vejmelka boasts a similar frame to that of Kuemper (6’5, 215) and Hill (6’6. 215), while also having shown himself capable of a heavy starter’s workload with 102 games played over his first two years with the Coyotes since signing with the team as a free agent from the Czech Elite League back in 2021.

“He’s come in and he’s done a real nice job by giving us a consistent effort each night,” Schwab said of the former fifth-round selection of the Nashville Predators. “It’s not easy to play on one of the bottom teams in the league but he gives us a good effort and has stolen quite a few games for us.”

Add in backup, Connor Ingram – who like Kuemper before him, is another Saskatchewan-born goalie in the system – and Schwab said the team has a tandem in place they can feel confident in, heading into the 2023-24 season.

“[Ingram] came in last year and did a tremendous job for us his first full year in the NHL, so we’re looking forward to continued improvement from both [he and Vejmelka], as we continue to get better and hopefully we can continue to develop them into a solid tandem.”

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Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1