Former North Bay Battalion coach/GM takes over in Erie

Stan Butler, the former coach and GM of the North Bay Battalion, is taking over as coach of the OHL's Erie Otters. (File)

Stan Butler, the former coach and GM of the North Bay Battalion, is taking over as coach of the OHL's Erie Otters.

Butler, 66, coached the Battalion for 22 years, first in Brampton and again when they moved to North Bay in 2013.

He was let go from that position in 2019 and moved into a role as an adviser to owner Scott Abbott.

A social media post today from the Otters welcomed Butler as the team's new head coach.

According to a report from TSN, Butler-led teams made the Ontario Hockey League playoffs 18 times and he led his team to the J. Ross Robertson Cup finals twice.

The East York, Ont., native's 22-season with the Battalion organization is the longest single-team tenure in OHL history.

Butler is third all-time in OHL Games coached with 1,558 behind long-time Ottawa 67's head coach Brian Kilrea and North Bay Centennial's long-time coach Bert Templeton and four all-time with 747 wins behind Kilrea, Templeton, and London Knights coach Dale Hunter.

"Stan is one of the CHL's elite coaches, and we hope to create a bright future in which we can all share and celebrate in," Otters general manager Dave Brown said in a statement.

"Stan has a wealth of knowledge in terms of player development, in-game execution, and understanding of what it takes to get things done in terms of (winning) and advancing players to the pro level."

Butler became the third coach in Hockey Canada history to coach Team Canada in back-to-back years at the World Junior tournament, leading them to a bronze-medal performance in 2001 and a silver-medal performance in 2002. He most recently coached the Canadian under-18 national team to an eighth straight gold medal at the 2015 Ivan Hlinka Tournament.

-- Files from TSN