The Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds announced Monday that the club has relieved head coach Mike Stapleton of his duties, replacing him with Sheldon Keefe.
“This was extremely difficult decision. Over the past 20 months working with Mike we have gone through a lot of ups and downs together, and become very close friends. I would like to thank Mike for his hard work and dedication to our program over his time here. These young men here have learned a lot from Mike, and when they look back on their time being coached by Mike they will realize that they have learned a lot about developing as a young man and a hockey player,” general manager Kyle Dubas said.
“In every conversation that I had regarding a replacement for Mike, whether it was with NHL scouts or executives, Hockey Canada personnel, or his competitors at the Junior A level one of the first names that kept coming up with regards to ‘best coach available’ was Sheldon Keefe,” Dubas added.
“As a young coach, Sheldon has had unprecedented success in Pembroke. He is a proven winner as a head coach and feel that his experiences with Pembroke and Hockey Canada will allow him to have success at the Major Junior Level.
“Sheldon’s Pembroke teams are renowned for being well prepared and well structured while playing a high-pressure, disciplined, puck possession style. Given that body of work, I felt Sheldon was the best coach to have our team reach its full potential.”
Keefe joins the Greyhounds after spending the past six seasons as GM and head coach of the Pembroke Lumber Kings of the CCHL. During that time the 32-year-old led the Kings to a 265-76-20 record and a league record five consecutive championships.
As a player, Keefe was managed by infamous player agent David Frost. Keefe joined Hockey Central @ Noon on Monday and addressed his past.
“I think for those that have been paying attention and those that have been closely watching what’s been happening here in Pembrooke in my time as a coach will be well aware that (the association with Frost) is very much in the past and I haven’t seen or spoken to David Frost in many, many years,” Keefe said.
“The perception that’s out there still lingers and…it really has been a mission of mine to let my accomplishments and my character shine through and over the course of the last seven years in this current role,” added Keefe. “I feel like I’ve been able to do that and today’s step, for the Sault Greyhounds and Kyle Dubas to show the confidence in me really shows that I’ve been able to do that.”
