Milano Hockey Club announces the composition of its coaching staff: Doug Shedden is appointed Head Coach of the first team, while Finnish goaltender Sakari Lindfors will serve as Goalie Coach / Assistant Coach.
The club entrusts its bench to two figures of well-established international experience, with a combined résumé spanning the NHL, SM-liiga and the leading European leagues. The two have previously worked together.
Born on April 29, 1961 in Wallaceburg, Ontario, Shedden is one of the coaches with the most extensive international track record in European hockey, with over thirty years at the highest level following a solid career as a professional NHL player.
A centre by role, Shedden was selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 5th round of the 1980 NHL Draft (93rd overall) and spent eight seasons in the league with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Detroit Red Wings, Quebec Nordiques and Toronto Maple Leafs, accumulating 416 regular-season appearances with 139 goals, 186 assists and 325 points. In 1991-92 came his first stint in Europe, split between Bolzano and Davos, before he brought his playing career to a close.
As a coach, Shedden quickly built a reputation as a winner in the North American minor leagues: back-to-back CHL titles with the Wichita Thunder (1994 and 1995), the Colonial Cup with the Flint Generals (2000) and two further CHL titles with the Memphis RiverKings (2002 and 2003), along with the CHL Coach of the Year award in 1994.
His move to Europe came in 2005 with a transfer to Finland, where he first coached HIFK — with Sakari Lindfors on his staff as goalie coach — and then Jokerit in the SM-liiga, guiding the latter to the championship final in 2006-07. He was simultaneously appointed head coach of the Finnish national team, with whom he claimed the bronze medal at the 2008 IIHF World Championship in Halifax and Québec City. From 2008 to 2014 he coached EV Zug in the Swiss National League, reaching the playoff semifinals in five consecutive seasons. Further stints followed in the KHL with Medveščak Zagreb (2014-15), back in Switzerland with HC Lugano — reaching the championship final in 2015-16 — and in Germany with ERC Ingolstadt (again alongside Lindfors) and the Iserlohn Roosters, with a further stint at Banská Bystrica in Slovakia. On the international front, he served as an assistant with Team Canada at the Spengler Cup from 2009 to 2011 before taking charge as Head Coach in 2012 and winning the tournament. He also served as an assistant with Team Canada at the 2013 IIHF World Championship. Most recently, in 2025-26, he coached HC Bolzano in the ICE Hockey League, gaining direct and up-to-date knowledge of the competition in which Milano Hockey Club will make its debut in the 2026-27 season.
"Being able to coach hockey in a city like Milan," Shedden says, "is a dream and a tremendous motivation — for me and for the players we will soon be announcing. The team we are building has a lot of quality and I am sure it will entertain the fans. I remember them being very passionate going back to the nineties!".
Born on April 27, 1966 in Helsinki, Lindfors is one of the most respected figures in Finnish hockey: a starting goaltender at HIFK for the majority of his career, with over 500 appearances in the league and numerous call-ups with the national team, with whom he won the Olympic silver medal (1988) and the silver medal at the IIHF World Championship (1992). Drafted in the 8th round by the Quebec Nordiques in 1988 (150th overall), he also wore the jerseys of Färjestad BK in Sweden, the Graz 99ers in Austria and H.C. Milano — then under Alvise di Canossa — in 1999-2000, the season of the club's well-known "exile" in the Franco-Italian Cup. His number 35 was retired by HIFK, and in 2005 he was inducted into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame. After retiring from playing in 2002, he embarked on a career as a goaltending coach, working in Finland (HIFK), Russia (Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod and Lada Togliatti), China (Kunlun), Austria (Villach), Germany (Ingolstadt) and, for the past three seasons, Norway (Stavanger Oilers).
"When Doug called me," Lindfors says, "I didn't think twice: I know how he works and we've always had a great rapport. It's a fantastic challenge in an excellent league — and I have fond memories of my year in Milan. I'm happy to be coming back."
