MINNEAPOLIS - Claude Noel will coach the Winnipeg's new NHL team, according to the Winnipeg Free Press.
Quoting sources, the newspaper said the franchise has elected to go with Noel, who coached the AHL's Manitoba Moose last season.
A spokesman for True North Sports & Entertainment, which owns the franchise, declined comment on the report.
Noel spent three years with the Columbus Blue Jackets, first as an assistant and then as head coach after Ken Hitchcock was fired in February 2010.
He led the Moose to a 43-40-1-6 record last season.
He has also coached in the AHL, ECHL and IHL.
The identity of the coach and team name are just two of the questions to be answered by Winnipeg going into the NHL entry draft on Friday and Saturday.
