It's official! Danny Flynn joins Ted Nolan in New York

Former Soo Greyhounds assistant and head coach Danny Flynn has officially joined Ted Nolan on the New York Islanders coaching staff.

Flynn was announced as one of two assistants under coach Nolan on Thursday night by the National Hockey League club.

Sticking with what got him to the Memorial Cup championship game in May, Nolan hired Daniel Lacroix, also an assistant with the Moncton Wildcats, as another assistant in Long Island.

Flynn, starting his first professional coaching job, was Nolan's associate coach in Moncton after the pair lead the Greyhounds to three consecutive Memorial Cup appearances from 1991-93.

"It’s going to be a great challenge," Flynn told Halifax's The Chronicle Herald.

"Step one is to try to make the Islanders a playoff team again. I’m fortunate that the coaching staff from Moncton is coming here intact so the job responsibilities and the chemistry amongst the staff is solid. We certainly understand what each other is about and the roles and responsibilities of what each coach is. That part is certainly going to help the transition."

To read the full article from The Chronicle Herald, click here.

The following is a news release from the New York Islanders:

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FLYNN AND LACROIX NAMED ASSISTANT COACHES

Nolan's staff in Moncton joins him on the Island

Dan Flynn and Daniel Lacroix, Ted Nolan's assistants with Memorial Cup finalist Moncton, have joined Nolan as assistant coaches with the New York Islanders.

"Dan Flynn and Daniel Lacroix are excellent teachers that are ideally suited to our team and the style of play that Ted preaches," said Senior Vice President and general manager Neil Smith. "Dan Flynn has been a winner everywhere he has coached. I know all about Dan Lacroix's work ethic from when he played for me with the Rangers. We're very fortunate that both men are coming to work for the Islanders."

"I'm very happy to have Dan and Daniel with me on the bench on Long Island," said Nolan. "They are outstanding coaches who are very dedicated and passionate about their craft."

Flynn has been a mainstay on Nolan's coaching staff going back to their days with the Sault. Ste. Marie Greyhounds in the early 1990s. Following Nolan's departure from the Greyhounds to the NHL, Flynn took over the reigns of the OHL team for the 1994-95 season. Together, Nolan and Flynn won three straight OHL championships and a Memorial Cup title with the Greyhounds. Before rejoining with Nolan in Moncton last season, Flynn was the head coach for St. Francis Xavier University from 1995 to 2005 and led the school to a 19-6-3 record in 2004-05, his last with the school.

During Flynn's ten-year tenure at St. FX, he led them to a Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) national championship in 2004 -- the first in the school's history -- and won two silver medals at the national championship in 2001 and 2003. In total, he recorded a total of 177 career wins at StFX making him the all-time winningest coach behind the X-Men bench, and third in AUS history.

Lacroix, a former seven-year NHL veteran left wing, wrapped up his NHL career with the New York Islanders in 1999-2000. He appeared in a total of 188 NHL games for the New York Rangers, Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, Edmonton Oilers and the Islanders recording 11 goals and seven assists for 18 points and 379 penalty minutes. For the last three seasons, the 37-year-old Lacroix has been an assistant coach in Moncton.

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