Bob Woods skates back behind NHL bench

Bob Woods, who has been at the helm of the Saskatoon Blades junior majors program the last two years, is jumping back into the NHL.

The Blades announced Thursday the former Mississippi Sea Wolves mainstay has left the program to become an assistant coach with the Buffalo Sabres under coach Dan Bylsma.

“This was too great of an offer to pass up,” Woods said in a press release on the Blades website. “It’s a chance to work alongside a Stanley Cup winning coach who also coached in the AHL. It’s an example I’d love to follow. I have mixed emotions leaving the Blades since the team is turning the corner but I know the players are in great hands.”

Woods, 48, who played for the Mississippi Sea Wolves before becoming an assistant and then the coach for the ECHL team, left Biloxi to follow ex-Sea Wolves coach Bruce Boudreau to the AHL and the Hershey Bears. When Boudreau made the jump to the NHL to coach the Washington Capitals and later the Anaheim Ducks, Woods followed.

Woods left Anaheim in 2014 to become the general manager and coach for Saskatoon.

The Buffalo News broke the news Thursday afternoon.

This story was originally published June 23, 2016 at 1:35 PM with the headline "Bob Woods skates back behind NHL bench."