Simon promoted to Griffins head coach
The Detroit Red Wings named Ben Simon head coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins, which is the club’s American Hockey League affiliate team, on Tuesday.
The 39-year-old Simon has been an assistant coach for Grand Rapids for the past three seasons and was an assistant coach for the Toronto Marlies in 2014-15. He replaces Todd Nelson, who was hired as an assistant coach by the NHL’s Dallas Stars last week.
A former fifth-round pick by Chicago in 1997, Simon played 81 total games in the NHL with Atlanta and Columbus and his 11-year pro career featured 21 games with Grand Rapids in 2006-07.
He started his coaching career in England and took Cincinnati to the Kelly Cup final in the ECHL in 2014.
BANNISTER LEAVING GREYHOUNDS
The OHL’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds are looking for a new head coach after Drew Bannister was announced Tuesday as head coach of the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage, which will be the top farm team of the NHL’s St. Louis Blues. Bannister led the Greyhounds to the OHL final and guided the team to a franchise-record 55-7-3-3 record in 2017-18. He was named the league’s coach of the year.
In three seasons as head coach in Sault Ste. Marie, Bannister, 44, boasted a 136-50-13-5 record. Before joining the Greyhounds, he spent three seasons as an assistant coach with the Owen Sound Attack. San Antonio, which had been the top affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche, will begin a five-year affiliation with St. Louis starting in 2018-19.
DIPIETRO GETS AWARD
Windsor Spitfires goalie Mikey DiPietro will officially pick up his goaltender of the year award Wednesday at the OHL Awards Ceremony, which will be held at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. The 18-year-old DiPietro is the first goalie in club history to win the award. DiPietro finished third in the league with a 2.79 goalsagainst average and was sixth in save percentage at .910 along with a league-leading seven shutouts. Former Spitfires captain Aaron Luchuk, who was traded midway through the season to Barrie, will also be in attendance to claim the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy as the league’s top scorer and the Leo Lalonde Memorial Trophy as the top overage player of the year.
GIFTOPOULOS TO DENMARK
After four seasons of Canadian university hockey, former Windsor Spitfires forward Remy Giftopoulos is heading to Denmark to play professional hockey.
The 25-year-old Giftopoulos, who played four seasons at Acadia University after wrapping up his junior career with the Spitfires in 2013-14, was one of three import players signed by the Herlev Eagles of the Danish premier league.