HOCKEY OPERATIONS


J.D. Forrest – Head Coach

J.D. Forrest was named head coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on September 11, 2020.

Forrest joined the WBS Penguins as an assistant coach prior to the 2016-17 season and worked primarily with the team’s defensive group and penalty kill unit for  four seasons. During his time as a WBS assistant, Forrest helped the Penguins to a 161-98-19-13 record, including a conference title for the 2016-17 regular season (107 points) in his first year with the team. In the Atlantic Division over that span, only the Providence Bruins (360) have earned more points than the Penguins’ 354.

Prior to joining the Penguins’ coaching staff, Forrest spent the 2015-16 season as the head coach of the Red Bull Salzburg’s farm team in Austria. In 2014-15, the Auburn, NY native served as an assistant coach of the U.S. National Team Development Program, a team that included current NHLers Auston Matthews, Charlie McAvoy, Matthew Tkachuk and Clayton Keller. Forrest helped lead the team to a gold medal at the IIHF U18 World Junior Championship.

Forrest played four years at Boston College with current Penguins skills development professional Ty Hennes, capturing the NCAA National Championship in 2001. The defenseman also spent time in the AHL with Albany and Worcester and played professionally in Finland, Sweden, Switzerland and Germany.


Kevin Porter – Assistant Coach

Kevin Porter was named assistant coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on January 11, 2021.

Porter entered the Penguins’ coaching ranks after wrapping up a 12-year career in pro hockey. Porter played 249 NHL games and 528 AHL games over those 12 years, including 85 contests with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton from 2015-2017. Porter was part of the Kilpatrick Trophy-winning Penguins squad as the league’s regular season champions in 2016-17, a season in which he set a career-best with 46 points. He also played 43 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins from 2015-2017 and had his name engraved on the Stanley Cup after Pittsburgh’s championship win in 2016.

A fourth-round draft pick (119thoverall) by the Phoenix Coyotes in 2004, Porter first made a name for himself as a dominant player at the University of Michigan. In four years with the Wolverines, the Northville, Michigan native notched 85 goals and 98 assists for 183 points across 162 games. He won the Hobey Baker Award as the best men’s player in college hockey at the end of his senior season, 2007-08.

Porter earned 58 points (29G-29A) in the NHL while playing for the Coyotes, Penguins, Buffalo Sabres and Colorado Avalanche. He produced 354 points (129G-225A) in the AHL while playing for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, the San Antonio Rampage, Lake Erie Monsters, Rochester Americans and Grand Rapids Griffins. Porter represented Rochester at the AHL All-Star Classic in 2013, and he captained the Americans in four seasons (2012-13; 2017-20).

A product of the United States National Team Development Program, Porter spent the last several months as a volunteer assistant for the NTDP’s under-18 team.


Sheldon Brookbank – Assistant Coach

Sheldon Brookbank joined the Penguins as an assistant coach on August 8, 2022.

Brookbank brings five seasons of coaching experience to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in addition to a 16-year pro playing career. The 41-year-old spent parts of the past four seasons as an assistant coach in the NHL for the Chicago Blackhawks.

The native of Lanigan, Saskatchewan racked up 853 professional games, 351 of which were spent in the NHL. Brookbank suited up for Chicago, the Nashville Predators, New Jersey Devils and Anaheim Ducks, and hoisted the Stanley Cup as a player for Chicago in 2013.

Brookbank appeared in 367 AHL games with the Grand Rapids Griffins, Milwaukee Admirals, Cincinnati Mighty Ducks, Lowell Devils and Cleveland Monsters. He won the Eddie Shore Award as the AHL’s best defensemen in 2006-07 with Milwaukee, when he led all league blueliners 38 assists and 53 points.

His brother, Wade, spent two seasons (2006-07, 2009-10) as a player with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, recording eight points (4G-4A) and 284 penalty minutes in 107 games.


Nick Biamonte – Video Coach

Jared Mycyk – Equipment Manager

Brian Allen – Assistant Equipment Manager

Jack Walsh – Assistant Equipment Manager

Henry Augenstein – Equipment Staff

Dave Hughes – Equipment Staff

Seamus McKelvey – Athletic Trainer

Zander Kosmala – Athletic Trainer

Connor Keenan – Strength & Conditioning Coach