Rebek to return to Eagles
Highly regarded head coach Jeremy Rebek will be back behind the bench of the Soo Eagles of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League for a second season in ’25-26.
Bruno Bragagnolo, the mainstay president and general manager of the NOJHL Eagles, confirmed to Hockey News North that Rebek has agreed to coach the Eagles again in ’25-26 after a rather successful ’24-25 season.
With Rebek at the helm in ’24-25, the Eagles posted a regular season record of 32-17-3 and finished in fifth place among the 12 teams of the NOJHL, just behind the fourth place Timmins Rock. The Eagles then lost to Timmins four games to two in a hotly contested opening round playoff series.
Bragagnolo, as the chief operator of the Eagles, said he is “really happy” that Rebek accepted the offer to return to the team in ’25-26.
“Jeremy did a great job for us a first year head coach,” Bragagnolo relayed. “Our players learned a lot from him and loved playing for him. It was an easy decision for me to ask Jeremy to stay on as our head coach. I like the way he sees the game as a coach. There is nothing not to like about Jeremy.”
Prior to the ’24-25 campaign, the 49 year old Rebek has spent the previous three seasons as a valuable assistant coach with the Soo Thunderbirds of the NOJHL. He also had a previous relationship with the Thunderbirds as a highly successful assistant several years ago. All in all, Rebek was part of three NOJHL championship teams with the Thunderbirds over the years.
During his playing days, Rebek first left his Sault Ste. Marie home as a 17-year old in was the beginning of what would be three seasons as an overachieving defenseman with the Owen Sound Platers of the Ontario Hockey League. A ninth round pick by Owen Sound at the 1995 OHL priority selections draft, Rebek would go on to suit up in 201 games for the Platers and total 27 goals, 113 assists, 140 points as a rock solid, 5 foot 11, 185 pound defender.
Then came a long and winding professional hockey career that would eventually lead him to Austria, Northern Ireland and Italy before finally retiring as a player at the age of 37. Those 17 years of next level hockey for Rebek also included time with the Laurentian University Voyageurs in Sudbury and various minor pro outposts with teams such as the Missouri River Otters, Toledo Storm, Kansas City Blades, Mississippi Sea Wolves, Rockford Ice Hogs, Milwaukee Admirals and Chicago Wolves before heading off to see more of the world.