BY: Jason Chaimovitch, American Hockey League
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League’s Board of Governors has unanimously elected Scott Howson as President and Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2020.
Howson will become the tenth President since the league’s formation in 1936 and will succeed the retiring David Andrews, who will continue as Chairman of the Board of Governors after his 26-year tenure as President and CEO concludes on June 30.
A Toronto native, Howson has spent the last 26 years as an executive with the National Hockey League’s Edmonton Oilers and Columbus Blue Jackets organizations, with wide-ranging responsibilities including hockey operations and administration, player development, salary cap compliance, contract negotiations, scouting and evaluation, and business operations.
Currently the director of player development for the Oilers, Howson has served in various roles since rejoining Edmonton in 2013, including hockey operations, pro scouting and player personnel responsibilities. He was named general manager of the Blue Jackets in 2007 and spent six seasons in that role, guiding the franchise to its first Stanley Cup Playoff appearance in 2009.
Howson first joined the Edmonton organization in 1994 as general manager of their AHL affiliates in Cape Breton and later Hamilton. He was named assistant to the general manager of the Oilers in 2000 and served as assistant GM of the NHL club from 2001-07. Howson’s AHL clubs reached the Calder Cup Finals in 1997 and 2003, and as a member of the AHL Board of Governors, he served on the league’s competition committee from 1996-2002 and on its executive committee from 2003-07.
A prolific scorer as a junior player with Kingston (OHL), Howson played five seasons of pro hockey from 1981-86, including 110 games in the AHL with the Springfield Indians and 18 contests with the NHL’s New York Islanders. He skated on championship teams in both the International Hockey League and the Central Hockey League.
Howson, 59, holds a bachelor’s degree from York University and is a graduate of York’s Osgoode Hall Law School. He and his wife, Antoinette, have three children: son Max and daughters Rebekah and Joanna.
