Ron Wilson Ronald " Ron " Lawrence Wilson ( born May 28 , 1955 ) is an American former professional player and the United States Olympic hockey team coach . He is also former head coach of the San Jose Sharks , Washington Capitals , and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim of the NHL . Wilson holds dual citizenship of the United States and Canada . Early Years . Wilson was born in Windsor , Ontario and raised in Fort Erie , Ontario . He moved from [ [ Fort Erie , [ [ Ontario ] ] to [ [ Riverside , Rhode Island ] ] when he was 12 years old . As a result , Wilson holds dual citizenship of [ [ Canada ] ] and the [ [ United States ] ] . Both his father , [ [ Larry Wilson ] ] , and his uncle , [ [ Johnny Wilson ] ] coached the [ [ Detroit Red Wings ] ] . He began his career playing hockey at [ [ Providence College ] ] , where he set several [ [ NCAA ] ] [ [ defenceman ] ] scoring records and was named the [ [ Eastern College Athletic Conference | ECAC ] ] Player of the Year in 1975 . Playing career . After his successful college career , he was drafted by the [ [ Toronto Maple Leafs ] ] of the [ [ National Hockey League ] ] in the [ [ 1975 NHL Entry Draft ] ] in the eighth round . He played only parts of 3 seasons with the Maple Leafs before spending six years in Switzerland , playing for [ [ EHC Kloten ] ] and [ [ HC Davos ] ] of [ [ National League A | Nationalliga A ] ] . He returned to the NHL in [ [ 1985 – 86 NHL season | 1985 ] ] and played three seasons with the [ [ Minnesota North Stars ] ] before retiring as a player in [ [ 1987 – 88 NHL season | 1988 ] ] . Wilson also played on the [ [ American national men ' s ice hockey team | U . S . national hockey team ] ] on a number of occasions throughout his career . Coaching career . NHL . Vancouver Canucks . Wilson ' s coaching career began in [ [ 1990 – 91 NHL season | 1990 ] ] , where he became an assistant coach for the [ [ Vancouver Canucks ] ] . Anaheim Mighty Ducks . In [ [ 1993 – 94 NHL season | 1993 ] ] , Wilson was named as the first coach of the expansion [ [ Anaheim Ducks | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim ] ] , where he coached the team for 4 years . Washington Capitals . After the Ducks released him following the [ [ 1996 – 97 NHL season ] ] , Wilson was hired to coach the [ [ Washington Capitals ] ] . In his first year in Washington , he led the team to the [ [ Stanley Cup ] ] Finals , where the Capitals were defeated by the [ [ Detroit Red Wings ] ] in four games . He also coached the U . S . national team again , this time at the [ [ 1998 Winter Olympics ] ] . The appearance in the Finals would prove to be the highlight of Wilson ' s tenure in Washington . In the season immediately following Washington ' s run to the Finals , the Caps backslid significantly and missed the playoffs . In the 1999 – 00 and 2000 – 01 seasons , Wilson led the team to back - to - back Southeast Division titles , though the team failed to advance past the first round of the playoffs both times . Hopes were high entering the 2001 – 02 season as the Capitals acquired Jaromir Jagr from the Pittsburgh Penguins , but the talented yet enigmatic winger never meshed with his more blue collar teammates as the team failed to make the playoffs . Wilson , after getting an initial vote of confidence from General Manager George McPhee , was tagged to take the fall and was released by the Capitals at the end of the NHL season . San Jose Sharks . He was not unemployed for long when the San Jose Sharks hired Wilson after a mid - season firing of their previous coach , [ [ Darryl Sutter ] ] . In his four seasons coaching at San Jose , he led the Sharks to the [ [ Western Conference ( NHL ) | Western Conference ] ] finals in [ [ 2004 Stanley Cup Playoffs | 2004 ] ] and became the 13th coach to coach 1 , 000 NHL games on March 18 , 2007 . With the elimination of the Sharks in the 2007 Playoffs by the [ [ Detroit Red Wings ] ] , Wilson became the first coach in NHL postseason history to lose to the same team with three different franchises . Wilson was given the role of assistant coach for the [ [ NHL All - Star Game ] ] for the Western Conference team after guiding the Sharks to a record of 22 - 13 - 5 in the opening half of the [ [ 2007 – 08 NHL season ] ] . The Sharks improved that record to 27 - 15 - 7 at the time of the All - Star Game . This was Wilson ’ s coaching debut in an All - Star Game in the fourteen years that he has coached in the NHL . Wilson coached the Western Conference squad alongside [ [ Mike Babcock ] ] , head coach for the Detroit Red Wings . Wilson is 11th on the all - time list of the number of games coached , and is ranked third amongst the active coaching list . Wilson earned his 500th win of his coaching career when the Sharks beat the [ [ Nashville Predators ] ] 4 - 3 on February 9 , 2008 at [ [ HP Pavilion at San Jose ] ] . He is the 11th coach in the history of the NHL to reach 500 victories . On March 1 , 2008 , Wilson became the coach with most wins in Sharks franchise history with 193 wins , and passed Darryl Sutter , who held the earlier record of 192 wins . The Sharks beat the [ [ St . Louis Blues ] ] , 2 - 0 , which gave Wilson the win . As of March 1 , 2008 , he is currently in 9th place on the NHL ’ s list of coaches ’ victories of all time with 505 victories . On May 12 , 2008 , Wilson was fired by [ [ Doug Wilson ] ] , after three straight second round exits in the playoffs . Toronto Maple Leafs . On June 10 , 2008 it was announced that Ron Wilson had signed on as the new coach of the [ [ Toronto Maple Leafs ] ] . The deal will see Wilson as the team ' s bench boss , on a 4 - year contract worth 5 . 6 million dollars plus incentives . International career . Wilson was named the coach of the U . S . national team at the [ [ 1996 World Cup of Hockey ] ] , where he led the Americans to the tournament championship . In April 2009 he was named the head coach for the U . S . Olympic hockey team . Coaching Style . As a coach , Wilson is well - known for integrating technology into his coaching plans . During his stint with the Washington Capitals , he and assistant coach [ [ Tim Hunter ] ] introduced personal computers into the team ' s strategy planning and burned DVDs of Capitals games for the team to review . In his stint with the San Jose Sharks , Wilson introduced a tablet PC to be used in the team bench by himself or his assistants to instantly plan out strategies and review plays . External links . [ [ Category : Born in 1955 ] ] [ [ Category : Mighty Ducks of Anaheim coaches ] ] [ [ Category : Washington Capitals coaches ] ] [ [ Category : San Jose Sharks coaches ] ] [ [ Category : Toronto Maple Leafs coaches ] ] [ [ Category : Hamilton Red Wings players ] ] [ [ Category : Toronto Maple Leafs players ] ] [ [ Category : Minnesota North Stars players ] ] [ [ Category : American ice hockey players ] ]