Freddy Meyer's hockey journey began in New Hampshire and now the next step is set to begin in the Granite State as well.

A native of Sanbornville, Meyer was named assistant coach of the Manchester Monarchs last week.

“I’m extremely excited to have this opportunity to come coach here in Manchester,” Meyer said. “It seems like everything has gone full circle from youth hockey to coaching in New Hampshire.”

Meyer had a successful playing career, earning all-America honors at Boston University and going on to play in 281 NHL games between 2004-2011 with the Flyers, Islanders and Thrashers, scoring 20 goals and adding 53 assists.

Meyer played in Europe last season, but health concerns led to his retirement.

“I had concussions the last couple years and I made the decision back in March to try to preserve my future as much as I can,” Meyer said. “I’ve had a great nine-year playing career. I decided it was the best decision for me and my family to stop playing and pursue other opportunities.”

Meyer put some feelers out, letting some of his previous organizations know that he wanted to stay involved in the sport.

One of the people Meyer contacted was Monarchs general manager Ron Hextall, who was soon in touch with Meyer about the assistant position after Scott Pellerin departed to take the head coaching job with Bridgeport of the AHL.

“Ron Hextall reached out to me a few weeks back and told me they were looking for an assistant coach and asked if I had any interest in it,” Meyer said. “I thought it over for a few days and my wife and I talked it over for numerous hours and it just seemed like it was the right decision to make.”

Meyer then met with Manchester director of hockey operations Hubie McDonough before a trip to Los Angeles to speak with Hextall and Kings’ general manager Dean Lombardi.

Meyer was hired and will join head coach Mark Morris behind the bench. Morris is in his home state of New York now, but has spoken with Meyer and looks forward to acting as a mentor to him.

“I’ve heard good things. We’re family friends with (Winnipeg Jets defenseman) Zach Bogosian and he was a teammate of Freddy’s in Atlanta,” Morris said. “He had lots of kind words and Ron Hextall has endorsed him as a real character person.”

On the smaller size at 5-foot-10 and 190 pounds, Meyer’s heart and work ethic were major keys to his success.

Meyer said he hopes to take some elements from coaches he’s had through the years and forge his own style.

“It starts with what they preach in L.A. and what Mark and I decide to do moving forward,” Meyer said. “I’ve had lots of great coaches in my career from high school to college to professionally. I will try to take what I can from all those coaches and what I liked and didn’t like and blend it into my own style.”

Morris is hopeful that Meyer, like Pellerin before him, will develop quickly.

“I’m hopeful that Freddy follows suit with the great job that Scott did for us. He was invaluable to us and in today’s game it takes everybody to cover all your bases,” Morris said. “Based on the conversations Freddy and I have had to date, everything looks to be very similar to the early stages of Scott Pellerin coming into the coaching profession.”

Meyer and his wife Lindsey and sons Freddy (age 4) and Carter (3) had been living in Hampton but moved to Massachusetts last year, where they will continue to reside.

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Ian Clark covers pro hockey for the New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News. He may be reached at iclark@unionleader.com.