Oakland native and current Wenatchee Wild (WHL) head coach Roy Sommer has been selected to this year’s American Hockey League Hall of Fame class.

This year’s induction set to take place as part of the festivities at the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Tech CU, which will be hosted by the San Jose Barracuda. The AHL Hall of Fame induction and awards ceremony is scheduled for Feb. 5.

Sommer has enjoyed the most decorated resume of any coach in AHL history – his 828 career wins are far and away the most in league history, and his 25 seasons as an AHL head coach is also a league record. His teams won four division titles, and he earned the AHL’s Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as its outstanding coach in the 2016-17 season, in which he led the Barracuda to a franchise-best 43 wins and a spot in the Western Conference final. He also coached three times in the AHL All-Star Classic.

During his professional coaching career, more than 150 of his players moved on to play in the NHL, and Sommer himself served twice as an assistant coach in the NHL. In many ways, his induction into the AHL Hall of Fame will also be a homecoming – Sommer is a Bay Area native, and coached in the San Jose Sharks organization from 1996-2022. Ten of those seasons were spent in San Jose with the Sharks and the Barracuda.

He also enjoyed a notable playing career, playing 10 seasons of pro hockey after being drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1977. He appeared in three games for the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers in 1981, and later won the 1984 AHL Calder Cup with the Maine Mariners.

Formed in 2006 to recognize, honor and celebrate individuals for their outstanding achievements and contributions in the American Hockey League, the AHL Hall of Fame is housed online at AHLHallofFame.com and is accessible to fans worldwide as part of the AHL Internet Network.

Photo/Phillip Brents

(November 25, 2023)