The Ontario Hockey League's Soo Greyhounds have a new head coach.
It is 37-year-old John Dean.
He has been coaching in Junior A hockey in Toronto, where he led the Toronto Patriots to a league-best record in the regular season and winning the league’s Coach of the Year award last season.
Prior to his time as the Head Coach of the Toronto OJHL team, Dean spent three years as assistant coach with the North Bay Battalion.
He also played junior hockey in North Bay in the 1990's and three years of professional hockey in the Central Hockey League.
After retiring from pro hockey, Dean earned a degree in marketing from York University and has owned “Players First Hockey”, a hockey development program designed for various ages and skill levels, since 2010.
“We are excited to announce that John Dean has been named the 20th Head Coach in Soo Greyhounds team history. John’s passion and his ability to articulate his plans for the future of the Soo Greyhounds hockey club was very impressive and evident when going through our search for the next head coach. We are very confident that John is the right fit for the program at this time. John understands today’s athlete and has a proven track record of success. He’s an effective communicator, teacher and committed to pushing this franchise to the next level.” said Soo Greyhounds General Manager Kyle Raftis.
Dean replaces Drew Bannister, who has moved on to the American Hockey League in San Antonio.
“I am honored and excited to be named Head Coach of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and look forward to carrying on the club’s tradition of excellence. I would like to thank Tim, Kyle and the entire board for giving me this amazing opportunity.” said Dean.
