Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Additional 2016-2017 Major Midget League Team Staff Announced
The BC Major Midget League (MML) is pleased to announce additional team staff for the 2016-2017 season. These staff are being named in addition to
the previously announced team staff.
The following personnel are joining MML teams for the 2016-2017 season:
|
Team
|
Name
|
Position
|
|
Fraser Valley Thunderbirds
|
Wes McLeod
|
Assistant Coach
|
|
North Island Silvertips
|
Jamie Davis
|
Assistant Coach
|
|
North Island Silvertips
|
Curtis Vizza
|
Assistant Coach
|
|
Okanagan Rockets
|
Logan Simpson
|
Assistant Coach
|
|
Thompson Blazers
|
George Cochrane
|
General Manager
|
|
Valley West Hawks
|
Kyle Spencer
|
Assistant Coach
|
|
Valley West Hawks
|
Josh Spencer
|
Assistant Coach (Video)
|
|
Vancouver North East Chiefs
|
Jimmy Ghuman
|
Assistant Coach
|
|
Vancouver North East Chiefs
|
Jeff Urekar
|
Assistant Coach
|
|
Vancouver North West Giants
|
Tim Knight
|
Head Coach
|
McLeod coached Mission Minor Hockey Association’s (MHA) Midget Tier 1 team during the 2015-2016 season, winning the Association’s Coach of the Year Award. As a player, he was a goalie for the Junior B Kimberly Dynamiters (KIJHL) and Ridge Meadows Flames (PIJHL). He will serve as a goaltending coach for the Thunderbirds.
Davis is currently the president of the Nanaimo MHA. From 2012 to 2015 he served as a coach for the Nanaimo MHA Bantam and Midget Tier 2 teams.
Vizza has been the Silvertips’ strength and conditioning coach for the past two (2) seasons. He also serves as a strength and conditioning coach for the Vancouver Island University varsity teams. As a player, Vizza was a member of the Prince George Cougars Midget AAA team.
Cochrane is currently the head coach of the Kamloops MHA, working with all of the coaches in the Association. He is a teacher and serves as the head coach at the Valleyview Secondary School Hockey Canada Skills Academy, and has previously served as a general manager and head coach for several Junior A and Junior B teams, including the Dawson Creek Canucks, Crowsnest Pass Timberwolves, and the Nelson Leafs.
Simpson will serve as the assistant/video coach for the Rockets. He played Junior B hockey for the Castlegar Rebels, and also played collegiate hockey for the Selkirk College Saints. Last season, he served as the head coach of Winfield MHA’s Midget Tier 3 team.
Kyle Spencer has served as the head coach of Cloverdale MHA’s Midget Tier 1 team for the past three (3) seasons. He will serve as an assistant coach, while his son Josh will serve as a video coach.
Ghuman has been with the Vancouver North East Chiefs for the past two (2) seasons. During the 2013-2014 season, he was an assistant coach with the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds and with the North Vancouver and Vancouver Thunderbirds MHAs.
Urekar has also been with the Chiefs for the past two (2) seasons. Prior to that, he coached with Port Moody MHA and served as an assistant coach with the Port Moody Panthers Junior B team.
Knight served as an assistant coach with the Chiefs from 2009 to 2011. Since then, he has been the Director of Hockey Operations for Squamish MHA, and was the 2015-2016 Fred Heslop Award recipient for BC Minor Hockey Coach of the Year.
The MML was established in 2004 to provide elite level 15, 16 and 17 year olds an opportunity to play within their own age group at a high level and be developed for the next level of hockey. These teams have an opportunity each year to compete for the TELUS Cup, Canada’s National Midget Championship, which will take place in Prince George, BC in April 2017.