Big news from Sault Major
Quite clear and with no doubt, this is an exceptional hire. Sault Major Hockey Association has confirmed that former Ontario Hockey League and National Hockey League mainstay Jeremy Stevenson will take over as the head coach of the Soo Jr. Greyhounds of the Great North Under 18 Hockey League effective the 2024-2025 season.
Stevenson is currently the associate coach of the Jr. Greyhounds of the Great North U18 HL under Denny Lambert, who is another OHL’er and NHL’er of good repute. Lambert is slated to coach the incoming Under 16 AAA Jr. Greyhounds when they re-enter the Great North U18 HL next season after an absence of several years.
Back to Stevenson, his hockey playing career ended about a dozen years ago at age 34. But now, at 49 years of age and at his playing size and weight of 6 foot 1, 215 pounds, Stevenson still looks fit and trim enough to be patrolling the left wing.
A first round pick of the Cornwall Royals in 1990 who would finish his OHL career with the Soo Greyhounds, Stevenson defied the odds to play in 228 NHL games after being an 11th round pick of the Anaheim Ducks in 1994. Now working in law enforcement in Sault Ste. Marie, Stevenson would play in 228 NHL games, playoffs included, and total 43 points from 19 goals, 24 assists while racking up 471 minutes in penalties as a fibrous, physical, fearless forward.
Stevenson’s OHL career was also noteworthy, as he went from being a first round pick by Cornwall from the Elliot Lake major midgets in 1990 to being traded to the Soo during the 1993-1994 campaign and scoring 18 goals, 19 assists, 37 points in 48 regular season games while piling up 183 minutes in penalties for head coach Ted Nolan’s Greyhounds.
Solid news for Soo players and their parents. Now no politics intervene