The LA Kings have named Marco Sturm as head coach for the Ontario Reign of the American Hockey League (AHL). He becomes the sixth head coach to serve for the AHL affiliate in Manchester or Ontario. The remaining coaching staff for the Reign – Chris Hajt, Craig Johnson, Brad Schuler, and Matt Millar – will also return.

Sturm joins the Reign after spending the last four seasons (2018-22) as an assistant coach with the Kings. This past season, Sturm helped the Kings earn their first playoff berth since 2017-18 with a third-place finish in the Pacific Division standings. The team’s 99-point regular-season total (44-27-11) was the sixth-most points earned by a Kings team in franchise history.

“As part of Todd’s staff for the past few seasons, Marco has played an important role in helping to instill a successful system for our team and will continue the development of our players at that level,” said Vice President and General Manager Rob Blake. “This is a good opportunity for Marco, and Todd was very supportive of this transition.”

Before joining the Kings coaching staff, the Dingolfing, Germany native served as head coach and general manager for the German National Team from 2015-18. During that span, Sturm led his native Germany to unprecedented success, highlighted by a silver-medal finish at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. Germany’s path to the gold-medal game started in 2016 when Sturm and Germany won an Olympic Qualifying Tournament to earn a place in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. Then, at the tournament itself, Sturm guided Germany to playoff round victories over Sweden (quarterfinal) and Canada (semifinal) before falling to the Olympic Athletes from Russia in overtime of the gold-medal game. His coaching resume with Germany also featured a Deutschland Cup title in 2015 and a pair of quarterfinal appearances at the 2016 and 2017 IIHF Men’s World Championship.

A veteran of 938 NHL games, Sturm registered 487 points (242-245=487), a career plus-59 rating, and 446 penalty minutes over 14 NHL seasons. Originally drafted by the San Jose Sharks in the first round (21st overall) of the 1996 NHL Entry Draft, Sturm went on to play for six different teams, including the Kings, Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers, Sharks, Vancouver Canucks, and Washington Capitals.

Internationally, Sturm skated for Germany in three Olympic Winter Games (1998, 2002, 2010), one World Cup of Hockey (2004), four IIHF Men’s World Championships (1997, 2001, 2004, 2008), and two IIHF World Junior Championships (1995, 1996). In 44 appearances for the German National Team, he registered 21 points (13-8=21) and 46 penalty minutes.