NEWS

(article courtesy of the Orangeville Banner, written by Todd McEwen - www.orangeville.com)

Kevin Stone is living a teenage dream.

As the newly appointed head coach of the Orangeville Junior A Flyers, Stone can now cross this accomplishment off his bucket list.

“Not only did I play for them, but this was the thing to do Friday nights, at the time, was watch the Crushers,” he said, referring to the original junior team in Orangeville.

“To grab the wheel and say, ‘Yeah, I get to steer the junior team in town’ is pretty exciting.”

The Orangeville native advanced through the local system before earning his stripes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and American Hockey League (AHL).

Since returning to his hometown, he took up assistant coaching duties under Orangeville Sports Hall of Fame inductee Bob Noble for the Flyers.

Noble, however, decided not to return next season as head coach.

“We knew this last season was Bob’s last year. He said he was more than ready to put his feet up and be a spectator,” Stone said.

“I didn’t know anything was official until (general manager) Dana (Baker) and I sat down and talked.”

Both Stone and Noble helmed the team for the past few seasons after the Villanova Knights chose to relocate to Orangeville from their original Toronto home base.

Prior to that, the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) decommissioned Orangeville in order to increase the state of play within the league.

Baker said there wasn’t much to discuss when it came to selecting a new head coach following Noble’s departure.

“It was the logical step,” he said. “Kevin was basically associate head coach last year. And he’s been the head coach in the U.S. for years … he didn’t have to buy me a beer.”

Last season the Flyers failed to make the post-season and struggled to see the .500 mark during the regular season.

The club finished fifth place in the West Division standings with 39 points in 55 regular season games.

Joining Stone on the bench for the upcoming season are Justin Murray and Arron Alphonso.

Murray made a name for himself as head coach of the Midland Flyers of the Georgian Mid-Ontario Junior Hockey League (GMOJHL) last season, while Alphonso’s a local Ontario Hockey League (OHL) veteran who played with the Ottawa 67’s.

“He’s getting his feet wet into coaching,” Stone said of Alphonso. “But he comes with a wealth of playing experience and not just cutting his teeth in the coaching experience.”