COACHING S TAFF
MIKE BALES
GOALTENDING COACH
Mike Bales, 47, is in his second season with the Carolina Hurricanes and
his sixth season as a goaltending coach in the National Hockey League.
Prior to joining the Hurricanes, Bales served as goaltending coach for
the Pittsburgh Penguins from 2013-17, winning back-to-back Stanley Cup
championships in 2016 and 2017. Prior to being promoted to goaltending
coach, Bales served as the Penguins’ goaltending development coach and
scout from 2011-13, helping to scout, draft and develop Matt Murray, who
posted 15 wins as a rookie during Pittsburgh’s 2016 Stanley Cup run. A
Penguins netminder posted at least 30 wins during the regular season in
each of Bales’ four seasons as goaltending coach, with Marc-Andre Fleury
earning Team MVP honors and a spot in the NHL All-Star Game in 2014-15,
posting 34 wins and a franchise-record 10 shutouts. During Pittsburgh’s
run to the 2017 Stanley Cup, Pittsburgh goaltenders combined for a 2.19
goals-against average, .929 save percentage and fi ve shutouts.
A native of Prince Albert, Sask.,
Bales was selected by the Boston
Bruins in the fi fth round, 105th overall,
at the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. He played
professionally as a goaltender for 18
seasons before beginning his coaching
career, appearing in 23 NHL games with
Boston and Ottawa. He also spent time
in the American Hockey League (AHL), International Hockey League
(IHL) and European leagues in Germany, Sweden and Northern Ireland.
Prior to turning professional, he played three seasons of collegiate
hockey for Ohio State.
Bales and his wife, Melanie, have three kids: William (15), Alexander
(12) and Alexa (12).
CHRIS HUFFINE
VIDEO COACH
Chris Huffi ne is in his 19th season as the team’s full-time video coach.
Prior to joining the team full time, he spent two seasons as a part-time
video coordinator with the club, handling video breakdown during home
games in Greensboro and taping future opponents during the 1997-98 and
1998-99 seasons.
Huffi ne is responsible for all pre-scouting of future opponents. He works
closely with the coaching staff, preparing scouting reports for individual
players as well as the team. His work includes breaking down the other
teams’ systems and tendencies, including forecheck, power plays and
penalty kills, and putting together meetings for the coaches to inform the
players. In addition to preparing for the opponent, he also breaks down
games as they happen on a laptop editing system so that coaches and
players have access to the information
immediately during and after the game.
Before joining the Hurricanes, Huffi ne
served as the video coordinator for the
Greensboro Monarchs for fi ve seasons.
In addition to being a member of the
2005-06 Stanley Cup Champions, he
was also chosen to represent USA
Hockey as the video coach for the 2006 Mens Olympic Team in Turin, Italy.
Chris and his wife, Heather, reside in Raleigh, with their sons, Samuel
and Jacob.
L J SCARPACE
VIDEO COACH
LJ Scarpace, 42, is in his second season as video coach for the
Carolina Hurricanes.
Prior to joining the Hurricanes, Scarpace spent 13 seasons
under Red Berenson with the University of Michigan men’s hockey
program, serving as the team’s director of player development
for the fi nal three seasons from 2014-17. Prior to that promotion,
he served as Michigan’s video coordinator since 2004, managing the
team’s video and statistical systems.
A native of Dearborn, MI, Scarpace attended Western Michigan
University for two years before transferring to the University of
Michigan, where he went 6-2-0 and
had a 1.94 goals-against average and
.910 save percentage as a goaltender
for the Wolverines over two seasons.
Following graduation, he played in the
ECHL with the Dayton Bombers and
Cincinnati Cyclones before returning to
Ann Arbor.
Scarpace, and his wife, Stacy, have two daughters, Kylie (14) and Chloe
(11), and live in Cary.
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