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Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds hire Drew Bannister as Sheldon Keefe's successor

Bannister was Owen Sound's assistant coach for 3 seasons (Terry Wilson, OHL Images)
Bannister was Owen Sound's assistant coach for 3 seasons (Terry Wilson, OHL Images)

The label of rookie head coach is true yet not accurate with Drew Bannister, whom the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds officially hired on Friday.

Bannister having been part of three championship teams in Sault Ste. Marie in the early 1990s (league champions in 1991 and '92 and Memorial Cup champs as a host team in '93) is a ready-made hook as he becomes the successor for OHL coach of the year Sheldon Keefe, who is now in the Toronto Maple Leafs organization. What's more pertinent is how Bannister honed his head-coaching chops while working as an assistant coach with the Owen Sound Attack by coaching under-16 and under-17 teams through Hockey Canada and Team Ontario.

That experience might factor in heavily as the Greyhounds go through some transition this season with the likes of Justin Bailey, Michael Bunting, Anthony DeAngelo, Darnell Nurse, Nick Ritchie and Sergey Tolchinsky all but certainly gone from last season's iteration that had a franchise-record 110 points.


From Brad Coccimiglio (@bradcoccimiglio):

Greyhounds General Manager Kyle Raftis spoke highly of Bannister, saying that the many have had high praise for the 41-year-old.

“He’s got an excellent background as a player and he’s got a great reputation around the OHL in terms of the work he’s done in Owen Sound and some of the success that they’ve had,” said Raftis. “When you look back at it, everyone you talk to, whether it’s Hockey Canada or Team Ontario, they all rave about him.

“Although he’s hard working and he’s passionate, which are big parts of being a great coach and he’s great with x’s and o’s, he’s a great communicator,” Raftis added. “Taking kids at the U16’s this year and winning gold, that’s not an easy task. Every review I got back from that was that each kid knew his role and their expectation and they carried it through. Sometimes in those shorter tournaments it’s on the coach more than anything.” (Soo Today)

Given that Raftis worked in the OHL office before being hired by the 'Hounds, it's not surprising his first coach would also be someone who's worked closely with the league and is highly regarded.

The Soo had 12 overages and 19-year-olds on its playoff roster. It will have a different look, but with two NHL first-rounders among the forward corps in 19-year-old Jared McCann (Vancouver Canucks) and 18-year-old Zachary Senyshyn (Boston Bruins), it's not going to be completely spartan for individual talent.

Friday was busy for off-ice OHL moves. The Saginaw Spirit named  Dave Drinkill general manager.

Former Sarnia coach Trevor Letowski, who was a finalist for the Windsor Spitfires' top coaching job before it went to Rocky Thompson, has joined the team's coaching staff.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @naitSAYger.