Weber ‘good fit’ behind Windsor bench
It didn’t take long for Mike Weber to realize he was home again with the Windsor Spitfires.
A former team captain, the 30-year-old Weber retired from professional hockey in January and was hired by the Spitfires as an assistant coach for the remainder of the season.
It was a chance for Weber to get a feel for coaching and for the Spitfires to see if he was a good fit for the bench. That was answered Wednesday when the club inked the former NHLer to a three-year contract to stay on as an assistant coach.
“Last year, for the last couple of months, there was a huge opportunity to learn and to see if this was something I really wanted to do going forward and obviously I feel very passionate about this line of work,” Weber said. “I want to coach, I want to help this team, this organization succeed and move up and this is a great opportunity here with a great young (defensive) core that we have to really put my stamp on some things.”
Spitfires general manager Warren Rychel said Jerrod Smith is being promoted to associate coach, while Weber becomes a full-time assistant coach under head coach Trevor Letowski.
“He’s a real good fit,” Letowski said of Weber. “I had a good feel for him when he came in. We knew him pretty well from when he would skate with us ( before leaving for pro camp). His demeanour and respect for the game is pretty contagious.”
A third-round pick by the Spitfires in the 2003 OHL draft, Weber left his home in Pennsylvania to join the Spitfires at the tender age of 15 and lived with Butch Ott and former Spitfire Steve Ott, who remains a close friend. Weber played parts of four seasons with the Spitfires and moved on to an 11-year pro career and more than 350 NHL games.
“Again, I can’t reiterate it enough how special it is to be back here, back in this community full time and really engulf myself and my family back into the community,” said Weber, who will handle the defence while Smith handles the forwards.
“This is home. Since I was 15 years old, this has been my home. Half my life’s been spent here. It’s really exciting for myself and my family to come back here.”
I want to coach, I want to help this team, this organization succeed and move up and this is a great opportunity.
OHL GOLD CUP
Five players selected by the Spitfires in last month’s OHL draft and seven area players are in Kitchener for the start Thursday of the OHL Gold Cup.
The event is the first step in Hockey Canada’s selection process for the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, which will be held Nov. 3-10 in New Brunswick. Spitfires first-round pick JeanLuc Foudy, second-round pick Kyle McDonald, third-round pick Dylan Robinson, fourth-round pick McKay Hayes and eighthround pick Owen Shier are set to compete at the event. Rychel and Letowski plan to attend the event and Rychel said he hopes to have a standard player agreement completed with Foudy in a week to 10 days.
As well, Lakeshore’s Ty Tullio, who was a first-round pick by the Oshawa Generals, Belle River’s Zane Dalpe, Tecumseh’s Ryan Gagnier, LaSalle’s Matthew Maggio, Harrow ’s Spencer Lecot, LaSalle’s Bryce Ryan and Matthew Sbrocca will take in the tournament. Forward Jake Smith and defenceman Zach Shankar, who saw their OHL careers end as overage players when the Spitfires were eliminated in the playoffs, plan to head to school in the fall. Smith said he will play his Canadian university hockey for the Carleton Ravens, while Shankar said he has agreed to join the Ryerson Rams.