John Dean: stay or go?


By
January 16, 2025

He has been the head coach of the Soo Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League since 2018. And it can be argued that John Dean has been given the resources by general manager Kyle Raftis and team ownership to have ongoing regular season and playoff success.

Prior to this ’24-25 campaign, the Greyhounds have won one round of the playoffs in three of the four full seasons that Dean has been at the helm. (Covid wiped out two playoff seasons.) But under Dean, the Greyhounds — despite having some really good teams — have never advanced beyond the second round of the playoffs while missing them entirely in what was a disaster of a ’22-23 season.

This season, the Greyhounds have clearly regressed in recent weeks while, for example, Western Conference foes of similar and lesser potential — such as the Sarnia Sting and Guelph Storm — have improved.

The Greyhounds were sellers at the January 10 trade deadline, moving on from top notch overage goalie Charlie Schenkel and Team Canada defenseman Andrew Gibson. It is suspected that the Greyhounds lack of achievement leading up to the deadline convinced aforementioned GM Kyle Raftis that dealing for the future rather than take a shot at some sort of playoff success was the better option.

After a slow start to this season, Dean actually got the Greyhounds back on track when reinforcements such as National Hockey League draft picks Owen Allard and Noel Nordh arrived in Sault Ste. Marie from the minor pro ranks. And while optimism in Houndtown got a boost for a good while, the sub par play under Dean would return.

Over the past month, there have been unacceptable home ice losses that could and should have been wins. Additionally, there have been two losses to Guelph, a team that trails the Soo in the standings and has spent most of the season out of the playoff picture.

Back to Dean. Should he stay or should he go? Arguments could be made in favour of either.

And I know that while hockey fans in general — especially in Sault Ste. Marie — can be both fickle and demanding, what I hear from those whose views that I generally respect and trust is that Dean seems to be approaching some sort of expiry date.

if the Greyhounds do manage to hold on to a playoff spot and possibly give a higher seed team like the London Knights, Windsor Spitfires or Kitchener Rangers a good run in the opening round, then perhaps there will be more who are keen on Dean.

But if the Greyhounds do happen to again be one of four of the 20 teams of the OHL that misses the playoffs, then it just might be time for Dean to pack his bags. Missing the playoffs in two of the past three seasons would be downright unacceptable, methinks.

I will note that I am not alone in saying all along that the Greyhounds were at least a .500 team this season — and a fourth or fifth place team among the 10 of the Western Conference. At the end of the day, it says here that Raftis as the GM has supplied Dean as the head coach with a lot more talent than the Greyhounds have mostly shown this season.

Should the Greyhounds make a coaching change? I am not the owner or the GM. But I know what I would do.

The doors swing in, the doors swing out. Sometimes they stay open. Sometimes they close.


What you think about “John Dean: stay or go?”

  1. He is steady cursing and swearing at players at revs we could here upstairs in our box…. the man has had his kick at the can …. time for him to go… he had a 5 – 1 lead against Kingston and blew it in the 3rd period….he has to go

  2. Just like his OA year with the North Bay Cenntennials he left the team to refocus on life and hockey…. Leave and don’t get fired so you get another opportunity…

  3. Fire the couch. He refuesss to play the youbger kids. All he does is aYell, mind the gods all u hear on broadcast is this man yelling. He is an ambarressment 2 the Soo. But him & doe not live in SSM Raftis have 2 go yesterday!! This team is the Toronoto Maple Leafs of the OHL!
    Stop riding Dubas’ coattales & frodge ur own identity…oh wait Raftis & Dean r capycats they dont have there own opininon
    Brutal team organization skilss

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