Viveiros saddles up for NHL job in Edmonton

Manny Viveiros is finally going home.

In a move that was widely speculated in recent weeks, Viveiros left his position as head coach and director of player personnel with the Swift Current Broncos Friday to join the coaching staff of the Edmonton Oilers.

The 52-year-old St. Albert native was originally selected by Edmonton in the sixth round of the 1984 NHL draft. He’ll work as an assistant under head coach Todd McLellan, a former head coach and general manager of the WHL’s Broncos.

Viveiros spent just two seasons in Swift Current, guiding the team to an overall record of 87-40-9-8.

He was named the WHL coach of the year this season after the Broncos posted the league’s second-best record (48-17-5-2).

They went on to win their first WHL title since 1993 and advanced to the Memorial Cup in Regina, where they lost three straight onegoal games and were eliminated from the tournament Wednesday by the host Regina Pats.

Before his arrival in Swift Current, Viveiros spent 10 years coaching in Europe, including a trip to the 2014 Olympics with the Austrian national team.

As a player, Viveiros helped the Prince Albert Raiders win a Memorial Cup title in 1985 and was named the league’s top defenceman and player of the year in 1986.

He went on to play 29 NHL games with the Minnesota North Stars before spending most of a 20-year pro career in Europe.

After transitioning to the coaching ranks overseas, he was hired in 2016 by Swift Current after Mark Lamb accepted a job in the American Hockey League.

It was a homecoming of sorts as Viveiros returned to the league where his career began 30 years earlier.

Now it has come full circle with his hometown team in Edmonton.

Manny Viveiros