Ron Rolston named head coach of Sabres after serving as interim coach

Ron Rolston was named head coach of the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday. Rolston served as the team's interim coach and coached in the AHL before that. (Andy Marlin/Getty Images)

After serving as the Buffalo Sabres' interim coach since Feb. 20, Ron Rolston was officially named head coach on Thursday morning, according to the official team site. The announcement was made by General Manager Darcy Regier.

During Rolston's 31 games with the team, they had a 15-11-5 record. He is the franchise's 16th head coach.

Prior to joining the Sabres, Rolston was the coach of the Rochester Americans in the American Hockey League (AHL) where he compiled a 63-44-17 regular-season record over the course of two seasons.

Rolston has also had considerable success coaching at the Under-18 and college level. From the team's official report:

Rolston spent seven seasons as head coach with USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program, where he became the first coach in U.S. history to lead the United States Under-18 team to three gold medals (2005, 2009, 2011) at the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Under-18 Championship, adding a silver medal (2007) in his other appearance as head coach. Rolston joined USA Hockey after serving as an assistant coach at four different NCAA Division I hockey programs (Lake Superior State University, 1990-1995; Clarkson University, 1996-1999; Harvard University, 1999-2002; Boston College, 2002-2004) between 1990 and 2004, winning National Championships in 1992 and 1994 with Lake Superior State University.

Rolston also served as head coach for the U.S. National Junior Team at the IIHF U20 World Championship in 2007 and 2009. In 2007, he led Team USA to the bronze medal.