Rochester, N.Y. (WGR 550) – The Rochester Americans announced on Monday the hiring of two new assistant coaches for the upcoming season to replace Mike Weber and Michael Peca.
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Stepping in as assistant coach to replace Weber on the defensive side is former Buffalo Sabres and Amerks defenseman Nathan Paetsch, while longtime NHL forward Vinny Prospal will step in place of Peca to coach the offensive group of players.
Paetsch has spent the past two seasons with the Sabres as a development coach, but spent parts of 11 seasons with both the Sabres and Amerks organizations as a player before retiring in 2020.
In three separate stints with the Amerks spanning 258 games, Paetsch registered a total of 100 points (23+77).
Off the ice, Paetsch won a number of awards, including being a four-time recipient of the AHL Man of the Year award. He was also named the recipient of the Amerks organization's McCulloch Trophy five times for his commitment to the Rochester community.
Over the course of 167 career NHL games with the Sabres and Columbus Blue Jackets, Paetsch managed to score seven goals and register 35 assists, totaling 42 points.
Paetsch was a former seventh-round selection (202nd overall) of the Sabres in the 2003 NHL Draft.
As for Prospal, he joined Rochester's coaching staff following three seasons (2018-2021) as head coach of HC Ceske Budejovice.
Prospal led the team to back-to-back league championships at the second-tier level (Czech Republic Hockey League, Chance Liga) for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 campaigns, going 63-18-5 during the regular season. He was also named the league’s Coach of the Year following the 2019-20 campaign.
According to Elite Prospects, Prospal has not coached anywhere since the 2020-21 season, where he led HC Ceske Budejovice in their first season back in the Czech Extraliga, Czechia's top professional hockey league.
Prospal has also had two stints as an assistant coach with the Czech National Team, spanning from 2016 to 2018.
A native of Ceske Budejovice, Prospal amassed 765 points on 255 goals and 510 assists over a 20-year playing career highlighted by 1,108 NHL games with seven different NHL franchises. He also added 35 points (10+25) in 65 career playoff appearances.
Prospal was a third-round selection (71st overall) of the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1993 NHL Draft.
