PWHL Las Vegas fills out bench with four coaching hires
Ryan Smith and Jonathan Matsumoto join as assistants, with Brad Kirkwood coaching the goalies and Brendan Flanagan handling video, under head coach Kim Weiss.
PWHL Las Vegas completed its first coaching staff on Wednesday, naming Ryan Smith and Jonathan Matsumoto assistant coaches, Brad Kirkwood goaltending coach and Brendan Flanagan video coach ahead of the expansion club's inaugural 2026-27 season.
The four join head coach Kim Weiss, who was appointed in June.
"They each bring a unique perspective and experience from across all levels of hockey and, most importantly, a shared passion for developing and supporting our athletes," general manager Dominique DiDia said in the team's announcement.
Smith arrives from the Regina Pats, where he spent two seasons as associate head coach. The Winnipeg native played professionally in Germany for about a decade, then coached in the MJHL and SJHL before 11 seasons in head and associate roles across the WHL in Swift Current, Medicine Hat, Spokane and Regina. He was on Canada's staff for the U16 men's team at the 2024 Youth Olympics and the U18 men's team that won IIHF gold in Finland later that year.
Matsumoto, from Ottawa, played in the NCAA, NHL, AHL and top European leagues and represented Canada internationally. He spent the past 10 seasons in Germany, coached with elite youth programs there and founded the coaching video platform Chasing Goals. Most recently he coached the North Shore Sharks Elite Hockey team.
Kirkwood, a Calgary native, spent three seasons as goaltending coach of the Toronto Sceptres and has worked with Canada's national women's team since 2015, a run that includes Olympic gold in 2022 and silver in 2018 and 2026, plus seven world championship medals. He also owns Top Prospects Goaltending Canada, which already has a branch in Las Vegas.
Flanagan, of Canton, N.Y., served the past two seasons as director of hockey operations and video coach in the NCAA, last season with the men's and women's programs at St. Lawrence and before that with Princeton's men's team. His father, Paul, coached women's hockey at St. Lawrence and Syracuse for more than 30 years.
Las Vegas was announced as one of the league's four expansion teams on May 13 and will play at T-Mobile Arena.
