Peterborough will always be home for Jody Hull
Former Petes head coach will be behind the visitors bench tonight when the Petes host the IceDogs
Jody Hull spent 15 years at the Memorial Centre as a player and coach but for the first time he’ll be on the visitor’s bench Thursday night.
Hull returns to the PMC for the first time since being named associate coach of the Niagara IceDogs in August. His five-year tenure as Peterborough Petes head coach ended in January with the team mired in a slump less than a year after leading them to the OHL’s Eastern Conference final.
The Petes (2-0) and IceDogs (1-0), the only undefeated teams left in the Eastern Conference, meet at 7:05 p.m.
“I’ve only ever known the home bench,” said Hull, “but when I played where the visitor’s bench is now was the home bench. It will be different for sure. That being said, I’m excited about the new opportunity and chapter in my life.”
Hull joined the Petes as a 16year-old out of Cambridge and in his third and final year of junior scored 50 goals as a young Petes squad reached the OHL final before losing to the Windsor Spitfires.
His wife Kelly is a Peterborough native and they always returned to the area during the off-season in his NHL career. They made Ennismore their permanent home after his playing days and he joined the Petes as an assistant coach in 2004-05 where he spent 12 of the next 14 years.
He was part of the 2005-06 OHL championship team and was promoted to head coach in the 2012-13 season when the Petes were in the midst of missing the playoffs three straight years. A year later, he orchestrated a comeback from a 3-0 deficit against the Kingston Fronts to a seven-game quarter-final win.
The PMC holds many memories.
“Peterborough is always going to be home,” Hull said. “It’s been home since I played junior. We have a great place out on the lake and I’m 99 per cent sure that’s going to continue in the off-seasons.
“There will probably be a few butterflies but that’s human nature when you go back to a place where you’ve been for a long time. I’m excited. I think it will be an exciting game for both clubs.”
Hull joined an IceDogs team many have pegged as the early favourite in the Eastern Conference coming in fifth in the CHL’s pre-season top 10 rankings. As associate coach he is running the team’s defence alongside head coach Billy Burke Jr. He’s getting accustomed to his new surroundings including St. Catharines Meridian Centre.
“It’s a brand new facility and everything has been pretty smooth so far and I don’t see that being any different as the season goes along,” he said.
“I’m not saying, by any means, anything against Peterborough but when you have new facilities you’re able to get top-end stuff for the players in the dressing room and workout area and other amenities. They have a video room so you’re not doing it in the coach’s office and things like that which make a big difference.”
Hull says he had other options to remain involved in hockey this season but says he was excited when the opportunity stay on a bench in the OHL arose.
“I was pretty excited with where their team was and the potential to have a pretty hockey club. It was definitely very intriguing. They have some good depth up front. Some pretty good goaltending in the tandem of Stephen Dhillon and Colton Incze. The defence is pretty deep, too. It’s a great situation to be a part of. Hopefully, we can have a good start here and be fortunate enough to maybe try to add some pieces as the season goes along.”