Former NHLer Marc Savard has been named the new head coach of the Windsor Spitfires, the Ontario Hockey League club announced Tuesday.
Savard, the longtime resident of Peterborough, played 14 seasons in the NHL, winning the Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins in 2011. He was a two-time all-star whose career was cut short in 2011 due to multiple concussions.
The Ontario Hockey League season starts on Oct. 7 including the Spitfires hosting the Sarnia Sting.
“It feels amazing, I have been waiting for this opportunity,” the 46-year-old said in a team release. “The process has been first-class all the way with GM Bill (Bowler)and ownership. I want to be a head coach and earn my craft. I want to be here for a while and learn a lot. I can’t wait to get started.”
Savard recently served a season as an assistant coach with the NHL’s St. Louis Blues during the 2019-2020 campaign.
Prior to the NHL, he played for the OHL’s Oshawa Generals where he is the team’s all-time points lead and twice won the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy as league top scorer. He was drafted 91st overall in the 1995 NHL entry draft by the New York Rangers.
His NHL career saw him tally 706 points in 807 regular season games with the Rangers, Calgary Flames, Atlanta Thrashers and the Bruins.
“I really look forward to this opportunity,” he said during Tuesday’s media conference. “I can assure you one thing: The Spitfires players will be ready to play every single night.”
Savard is also one of the founders of Project 91, which helps raise concussion awareness and provide funding to support concussion research.
He’ll be on the Spitfires’ bench with current associate coach Jerrod Smith and new assistant coach Andy Delmore, a former NHLer, who recently served with the Toledo Walleye.
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