Three NHL Head Coaches who used to coach the South Carolina Stingrays will be in attendance at the Stingrays 2024-25 Fan Fest this Saturday. Former Stingrays Head Coaches Jared Bednar, Spencer Carbery, and Ryan Warsofsky will be at the North Charleston Coliseum from 10 am to 1 pm on Saturday, August 17. The event is free and open to the public. The Stingrays will be raffling off a signed customized jersey of each coach at the event.
The three NHL Head Coaches each have contributed to the Stingrays' successful history, which includes three Kelly Cup Championships and six Kelly Cup Finals appearances.
Bednar, 52, is entering his ninth season as Head Coach of the Colorado Avalanche. In his playing career, he skated in 434 career ECHL games, including 279 career games for the Stingrays. Known for his physical presence on the ice, Bednar accumulated 794 penalty minutes, the eighth most all-time by any Stingray. Bednar was a member of all three Stingray Kelly Cup Championship teams. He played on the 1997 and 2001 teams and was the Head Coach of the 2009 team.
Carbery, 42, is entering his second season as Head Coach of the Washington Capitals. In 2008-09, he was playing for the ECHL's Fresno Falcons when the team folded mid-season. Shortly after Fresno's folding, Bednar recruited Carbery to play for the Stingrays and serve as an assistant captain. At 6'2" and 190 pounds, Carbery was a hard-nosed left winger. He played a key role in helping the Stingrays win the 2009 Kelly Cup, tallying 13 points (five goals, eight assists) in 23 Kelly Cup Playoff games. Carbery played one more season for the Stingrays in 2009-10 before immediately transitioning into coaching. He served as an assistant coach for two seasons under Head Coach Cail MacLean before earning the Head Coach position in 2012-13 at the age of 29. In his five seasons as Head Coach, Carbery led the Stingrays to two division titles, two Eastern Conference Finals appearances, and one Kelly Cup Finals appearance in 2015. He also hired Warsofsky to serve as his assistant coach from 2013 to 2016 before Carbery moved on and Warsofsky became the Head Coach. In May 2023, the Capitals hired Carbery as their new Head Coach; at the time, he was the youngest Head Coach in the NHL. That changed when the San Jose Sharks hired Warsofsky this past June.
Warsofsky, 36, is entering his first season as Head Coach of the Sharks after serving as an assistant in San Jose for the past two seasons. He is the youngest active Head Coach in the NHL. Warsofsky spent five seasons behind the bench in South Carolina. He was an assistant coach for Carbery from 2013-2016 before serving as Head Coach for two seasons. Warsofsky reached the Kelly Cup Finals as an assistant coach in 2015 and again as a Head Coach in 2017. He won two Calder Cup championships as an AHL coach: in 2019 with the Charlotte Checkers as an assistant and in 2022 with the Chicago Wolves as Head Coach. Warsofsky joined the Sharks staff as an assistant coach before the 2022-23 season.
The Stingrays 2024-25 season begins on Saturday, October 19, with the Home Opener against the Savannah Ghost Pirates at 6:05 p.m. The full schedule can be viewed here.
