The Ontario Junior Hockey League has named Derek Smith of the Wellington Dukes as “Coach of the Year”.
Smith is a former co- captain of the Dukes and was in his first year as head coach.
The 35 year old Belleville native was an assistant coach under John Druce and was named head coach last June after Druce stepped down.
Wellington had a 43-9-2 record this season and won the Brant Snow Memorial Trophy as the OJHL’s regular season champions.
The Dukes swept Cobourg in the first round of the playoffs and was set to play the Trenton Golden Hawks in the East Division final when the season was cut short due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Derek Smith played four seasons on the Dukes blueline and was part of the team that won the organization’s first Buckland Cup and Dudley Hewitt Cup in 2003. That team advanced to the semi finals of the RBC Cup national championships in Charlottetown.
Following his junior career Smith attended and played hockey for the Lake Superior State Lakers in Sault Ste. Marie Michigan.
He then signed with the Ottawa Senators which led to a 10 year professional career including 94 NHL games with Ottawa and the Calgary Flames.
Smith praised the ownership and management group in Wellington for identifying players who were both talented and solid citizens. He added “We had a bunch of young men who just wanted to be Dukes. It made my job easier coming to the rink”.
Wellington General Manager Tod Reid says the organization couldn’t be prouder of its home grown head coach.
