The Belleville Senators coaching staff for the 2026-27 AHL season is now complete.
Last week, the B-Sens announced that interim head coach Andrew Campbell would return to the job in a full-time capacity after signing a three-year contract with the club. Campbell took over mid-season this year after the departure of David Bell.
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Campbell has retained assistant coaches Stefan Legein and goaltending coach Paul Gibson for their third seasons with the B-Sens.
But new to the staff this year is longtime NHL defenseman Joe Cirella, a veteran of 828 NHL games, most of them with the New Jersey Devils back in the 1980s. Cirella also played for Florida, the New York Rangers, Quebec Nordiques, and Colorado Rockies before winding up his career with a very brief stint in Ottawa in 1995-96.
For old schoolers, Cirella is the answer to a fine hockey trivia question: Name the last former member of the defunct Colorado Rockies to retire from the NHL.
Cirella played for the Rockies during their final season in Denver before the team relocated and became the New Jersey Devils. One of his teammates with the Rockies was former Sens head coach Dave Cameron, now the Ottawa 67s head coach.
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Now 63, Cirella brings a wealth of coaching experience to Belleville’s table, spending the past eight seasons with the Calgary Wranglers, the AHL affiliate of the Flames. He spent one season under rookie Wranglers head coach Brett Sutter before parting ways with the club at the end of the season.
Cirella was replaced on the staff last month by former Soo Greyhounds head coach John Dean.
Cirella’s assistant coaching career also includes 13 seasons in the OHL with the Soo Greyhounds, Peterborough Petes, and Oshawa Generals. His only NHL coaching experience was his first season as a coach, shortly after retiring as a player, when he joined Florida’s staff in 1997-98.
As a player, Cirella was a fifth-overall pick by the Rockies in 1981, right behind future Hall of Famers like Dale Hawerchuk and Ron Francis.
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By Steve Warne
The Hockey News
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