Smith signs on for two more years as assistant
Jerrod Smith will assume the role of top assistant with the Windsor Spitfires and the club has added Tyler Roeszler as its player development and skills coach.
The 33-year-old Smith, who will keep the title of assistant coach, is entering his seventh season with the organization. “It’s really exciting,” said Smith, who agreed to a new two-year deal through 201819. “Trevor (head coach Letowski) and I have built a pretty close relationship the last couple of years. We work well at the rink and have become close away from the rink.”
Smith started with the team as its video coach in 2011 and worked his way up to the second assistant under Bob Boughner and then Rocky Thompson.
“He’s worked with some real good coaches and learned a lot in his time in Windsor,” Letowski said. “For me, it was an obvious choice and he’s more than ready. He’ll be my right-hand man and have input on everything.”
Smith, who handled forwards the previous four years, will now handle the defence.
“I’m really excited about that,” Smith said. “I’ve had a chance to learn from some of the best coaches in the league in Bob Boughner, Bob Jones, D.J. Smith, Trevor and Rocky. I’ve been groomed for this.”
A Chatham native, Roeszler, 28, was a 15th-round pick by the Spitfires in 2004, but opted to play in the NCAA for Cornell University.
With the team expected to ice a younger lineup this season, both Letowski and general manager Warren Rychel felt it was important to add a skills coach.
“Skill development is huge now, said Rychel. “Every team’s doing it in the NHL and we’re trying to copy it.”
Roeszler spent a year playing in Sweden before returning to Chatham to coach the junior B Maroons for parts of three seasons. He’s also been an assistant coach for the University of Guelph for the past two seasons.
The Spitfires must still hire a goaltending coach to replace Jim Bedard, who left to join the NHL’s Dallas Stars.