Following another tough year in last place in the division, the Goderich Flyers have hit the reset button and transformed the front office.
The team decided to bring in hockey lifer Todd Norman, who spent the last few seasons coaching the rival Kincardine Bulldogs. Norman's resumé speaks for itself. After a very successful junior career including a lengthy stint with the Guelph Storm, Norman embarked on a long pro career following his selection by the Vancouver Canucks in the 1995 draft.
Norman's first task was putting together a coaching staff, starting with Head Coach Grant Lamont. Lamont has over 35 years of coaching experience, ranging from junior teams to the WOAA Senior level, including stints with the Grey Bruce Highlanders AAA program. Joining him on the bench is Shawn Dickey, who has loads of minor hockey Jr. C experience in Lambton and Lucan. Finally, last year's OA goaltender, Liam McCarthy, who will train the netminders.
Not returning this year is obviously McCarthy, who steps right onto the bench. Also missing is key forwards Iain MacIsaac and Ayden Hakkers, who had 26 and 25 points, respectively, and are likely to make GOJHL Sarnia. Leading defender Jack Stecho, who was second in team scoring last year with 32 points, was dealt to Exeter. Riley Kuepfer and his 22 points will also not be back, and neither will Jeff Fritzley and his 25 points, both aging out. Ethan Pearce, who put up a team leading 16 goals and 20 overall points, got moved to Mitchell. Goderich has decided to go young and retool the roster, but with that said, they do have some solid returning guys.
Up front, Owen Shore, who was a sensational rookie last season and led this club in scoring, will return. His 36 points in 35 games certainly points to bigger and better output, and he could easily crack 50-plus points after some time with GOJHL Listowel and being an attendee at the Soo Greyhounds camp. Carson Stutzman, who had 14 points in 33 games last season as another rookie, also comes back and looks to be a key offensive leader alongside Shore. Carson Fletcher returns after seeing time with PJHL Paris and Aylmer last year following his rookie year in Goderich. Another young player coming in is James Bender, who got into 6 games in Kincardine last year, so Norman is familiar with his skillset.
Part of the defensive retool involves Wyatt Connelly, acquired from the Exeter Hawks. Connelly comes with a lot of promise, after posting 13 points in 39 games last year as a rookie. He has the potential to be a key offensive contributor, especially on the power play, and could eat up a lot of the minutes that Stecho leaves behind. Surrounding him will be, again, lots of youngsters, with Listowel Minor Hockey prospects like Leland Weber, and Rowan Alexander, who got into a game in Kincardine for Norman last year. This will be a very young group.
In net, the Flyers will welcome a very talented goalie in Christian DeJong, who started a lot for the Kincardine Bulldogs last year as a rookie and played very well under Norman. He went 10-10-2 last year with a 3.29 GAA and .892 save percentage, a very fine stat line for a rookie. He will be the workhorse for the Flyers, backed up by Logan Bromley, brought over from Walkerton after a rookie season there that saw him go 7-23-1 with a 4.32 GAA and .870 save percentage, which were very solid numbers given the high amount of shots and chances he faced.
The Goderich Flyers are looking to establish a new culture, and to do that, you have to start small and build up the program right. Todd Norman says he "doesn't know how many years or how long it will take" but he is as committed a person as you'll find around hockey when it comes to implementing a plan and seeing it through. Goderich has exciting returning players, promising youngsters throughout the lineup and a very solid goalie tandem. They will be a problem for anyone who dares take them lightly based off last year.
For a full interview with Goderich Flyers GM Todd Norman, click here courtesy of the Instigating with Clarkey and Drury show: