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Ken Klee

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Ken Klee
Klee with PWHL Minnesota in 2024
Born (1971-04-24) April 24, 1971 (age 53)
Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 210 lb (95 kg; 15 st 0 lb)
Position Defense
Shot Right
Played for Washington Capitals
Toronto Maple Leafs
New Jersey Devils
Colorado Avalanche
Atlanta Thrashers
Anaheim Ducks
Phoenix Coyotes
National team  United States
NHL draft 177th overall, 1990
Washington Capitals
Playing career 1992–2009

Kenneth William Robert Klee (born April 24, 1971) is an American ice hockey coach and former professional defenseman who played most notably with the Washington Capitals in the National Hockey League (NHL). He is currently the head coach of the Minnesota Frost of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL).

Early life

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Klee was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. The son of a project engineer whose job required frequent moves, he spent portions of his childhood in Indianapolis, Denver, Colorado, and Kansas City, Missouri, before moving to Toronto and the St. Michael's Buzzers on a hockey scholarship as a 17-year-old.[1]

Playing career

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Klee was drafted 177th overall by the Washington Capitals in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. Klee would not play for the Capitals until the 1994–95 season, but it did not take him long to become a regular on the squad. Klee played with the Capitals until the end of the 2002–03 season. Klee had played in Washington for 9 seasons, and played in 604 games (regular season and playoffs) when he then became a free agent and signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs on September 27, 2003.

In Klee's first season in Toronto, he registered career highs in assists (25) and points (29) despite missing 16 games. On March 8, 2006, a day before the NHL's trading deadline, Klee was traded by the struggling Maple Leafs to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for winger Alexander Suglobov. On July 24, 2006, Klee signed a one-year contract with the Colorado Avalanche as a free agent for the 2006–07 season.[2] Klee finished the season leading the Avalanche with a plus/minus of 18. On July 2, 2007, Klee signed a two-year contract with the Atlanta Thrashers.[3]

Klee with the Avalanche in 2006

On September 26, 2008, into the final year of his contract with the Thrashers, Klee was dealt along with Brad Larsen and Chad Painchaud to the Anaheim Ducks for defenseman Mathieu Schneider.[4] After starting the 2008–09 season with the Ducks, Klee was claimed off re-entry waivers by the Phoenix Coyotes on October 28, 2008.[5] After playing out the season with the Coyotes and becoming a free agent, Klee unofficially announced his retirement.[6]

Though not known as a goal scorer, 13 of his 55 career goals were game-winning goals, the highest percentage in NHL history.

International play

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Klee represent United States at the 1991 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships and senior level at the 1992 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships, 1997 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships and also at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey.

Coaching career

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Klee was the head coach for the U.S. squad that finished second during his first Four Nations Cup in 2014 (2–0–1–1). That season, he also guided the U.S. Women's Under-22 Select Team to a first-place finish during his first campaign behind the bench for the U.S. in the 2014 Under-22 Series, defeating Canada in all three games. Klee led the U.S. Women's National Team to the gold medal at the 2015 IIHF Women's World Championship in Malmo, Sweden. He also guided the U.S. to a first-place finish at the 2015 Under-22 Series, defeating Canada two games to one.

Serving in the same capacity at the 2015 Four Nations Cup in Sundsvall, Sweden, Klee led the U.S. to an undefeated record (3–1–0–0) and first championship title since 2012. The tournament marks the seventh consecutive event that Klee has been at the helm of Team USA and the third time he has been behind the bench at the Four Nations Cup. He now owns an 18–3–1–2 record overall.

Klee was the head coach of the U.S. Women's National Team for the 2016 Four Nations Cup in Vierumaki, Finland from Oct. 29 – Nov. 6. Klee then served as head coach of the U.S. Women's National Team at the 2016 International Ice Hockey Federation Women's World Championship in Kamloops, British Columbia. He led the U.S. to an undefeated record (4–1–0–0, W-OTW-OTL-L) and gold-medal.

Having left the women's national team, on July 18, 2017, Klee was hired as an assistant coach with the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League.[7]

On December 27, 2023, it was announced Klee would be replacing Charlie Burggraf as the head coach of PWHL Minnesota, after Burggraf stepped down from the position one week before the team's first game.[8]

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1988–89 St. Michael's Buzzers MetJHL 40 9 23 32 64 27 5 12 17 54
1989–90 Bowling Green Falcons CCHA 39 0 5 5 52 — — — — —
1990–91 Bowling Green Falcons CCHA 37 7 28 35 50 — — — — —
1991–92 Bowling Green Falcons CCHA 10 0 1 1 14 — — — — —
1992–93 Baltimore Skipjacks AHL 77 4 14 18 93 7 0 1 1 15
1993–94 Portland Pirates AHL 65 2 9 11 87 17 1 2 3 14
1994–95 Portland Pirates AHL 49 5 7 12 89 — — — — —
1994–95 Washington Capitals NHL 23 3 1 4 41 7 0 0 0 4
1995–96 Washington Capitals NHL 66 8 3 11 60 1 0 0 0 0
1996–97 Washington Capitals NHL 80 3 8 11 115 — — — — —
1997–98 Washington Capitals NHL 51 4 2 6 46 9 1 0 1 10
1998–99 Washington Capitals NHL 78 7 13 20 80 — — — — —
1999–2000 Washington Capitals NHL 80 7 13 20 79 5 0 1 1 10
2000–01 Washington Capitals NHL 54 2 4 6 60 6 0 1 1 8
2001–02 Washington Capitals NHL 68 8 8 16 38 — — — — —
2002–03 Washington Capitals NHL 70 1 16 17 89 6 0 0 0 6
2003–04 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 66 4 25 29 36 11 0 0 0 6
2005–06 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 56 3 12 15 66 — — — — —
2005–06 New Jersey Devils NHL 18 0 0 0 14 6 1 0 1 6
2006–07 Colorado Avalanche NHL 81 3 16 19 68 — — — — —
2007–08 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 72 1 9 10 60 — — — — —
2008–09 Anaheim Ducks NHL 3 0 0 0 4 — — — — —
2008–09 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 68 1 10 11 24 — — — — —
NHL totals 934 55 140 195 880 51 2 2 4 50

International

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Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
1991 United States WJC 4th 7 1 1 2 2
1992 United States WC 7th 2 0 0 0 0
1997 United States WC 6th 8 1 0 1 12
2004 United States WCH 4th 4 0 0 0 0
Junior totals 7 1 1 2 2
Senior totals 14 1 0 1 12

Transactions

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References

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  1. ^ "Time Capsule: Ken Klee". Washington Capitals. 2016-05-06. Retrieved 2016-05-06.
  2. ^ "Avalanche sign defenseman Klee". ESPN. 2006-07-24. Retrieved 2008-10-28.
  3. ^ "Free Agent Klee signs contract with Thrashers". ESPN. 2007-07-03. Retrieved 2008-10-28.
  4. ^ Cox, Damien (2008-09-26). "Schneider traded to Atlanta". TheStar.com. Toronto. Retrieved 2008-10-28.
  5. ^ "Coyotes claim Klee off re-entry waivers". nhl.com. 2008-10-28. Archived from the original on 2008-10-30. Retrieved 2008-10-28.
  6. ^ "(in french) Numminen and Klee announce retirement". RDS. 2009-08-04. Retrieved 2010-02-24.
  7. ^ "Ken Klee hired as Crunch assistant coach". Syracuse Crunch. 2017-07-18. Retrieved 2017-07-18.
  8. ^ CBC Sports (27 December 2023). "Charlie Burggraf steps down as head coach of PWHL Minnesota days before season opener". CBC. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
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