Brian McCutcheon is entering his second season as the Sabres assistant coach after three successful years coaching the AHL affiliate Rochester Americans. After taking the Amerks to the Calder Cup Finals in the two seasons prior, he was tabbed to help develop the Sabres younger talent whom he had coached at the AHL level.
McCutcheon saw some familiar faces in his first year in the NHL as the Sabres also promoted Dmitri Kalinin, Denis Hamel, and J.P. Dumont to the parent club. McCutcheon helped them perform in their first season with Buffalo as they did for him in Rochester. Kalinin became a steady performer on the Sabres blue line, while Dumont finished fourth in team scoring with career-highs in goals (23), assists (28) and points (51). Hamel was finding his own offensive touch before a knee injury ended his rookie campaign at mid-season.
McCutcheon ended his Rochester tenure with a record of 128-82-9 and saw his Amerk teams into the playoffs in each of his three seasons behind the bench. Along the way, he helped develop several current Sabres including: Biron, Erik Rasmussen, and Vaclav Varada. Under his guidance, the Amerks won two straight Western Conference titles and set franchise records for most points (111) and wins (52) in a season.
Prior to joining the Amerks, McCutcheon served as the Head Coach and Director of Player Personnel for the Columbus Chill of the East Coast Hockey League. In his only season with the Chill, he led them to a 44-21-5 mark setting a franchise record for most wins and points in a season while winning the North Division title. McCutcheon was rewarded for his efforts with the ECHL Coach of the Year award.
That performance was made more impressive by the fact that it was only his second season working with professionals, and just his first as a head coach. In 1995-96, he served as an assistant to former Amerks Head Coach John Van Boxmeer with the Los Angeles Ice Dogs of the International Hockey League.
Before moving into pro hockey, Brian enjoyed a highly successful career as a college coach. McCutcheon was the head coach from 1987-95 at Division I Cornell University compiling a 108-105-24 record over eight seasons. The tenure was a homecoming for McCutcheon who graduated from Cornell in 1971 after a playing career which included an NCAA Championship in 1970. He was inducted into the Cornell University Sports Hall of Fame in 1986.
McCutcheon had previously coached at Elmira College (located in Central New York) for seven seasons, the last six as head coach. He owns a 103-60-1 lifetime record at the school, including a 1986 New York State Coach of the Year award, the same year his Elmira team reached the #1 ranking among Division III schools.
He appeared in 37 games over parts of three seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, recording three goals, one assist, four points, and seven PIM.
A native of Toronto, Brian and his wife Susan have two children, Kelly (22) and Mark (17).
