What’s next for the Hounds?
Greyhound fans are starved for a winner. Not since 2018 — when the Greyhounds, led by their head coach at the time, Drew Bannister, lost in the finals to the Hamilton (now Brantford) Bulldogs — has the Red and White truly contended for an Ontario Hockey League championship.
Since 2018 — before his recent, gentle shove out the door — the Greyhounds have been ho and hum under head coach John Dean, never once advancing past the second round of the playoffs, and not even making it to the post season a couple of times.
But now Dean is gone (see story on Page B3) and the Hounds are looking for the type of bench boss who can lead them on some sort of sustained success that might even include winning two rounds of playoffs in one season.
Who will be the Hounds next head coach? I have a few guesses but your guesses are probably as good as mine. Bannister? Jordan Smith? Jason Fortier?
Whoever the next coach is will need to know how starved the Greyhound fan base is for a winner and how tired they are of watching their team be out coached way too often.
Besides who the next head coach will be, there is also the matter of who will be back playing for the ’26-27 edition of the Greyhounds of Sault Ste. Marie.
There are some good players eligible return to the Hounds in ’26-27 including ace defenseman Chase Reid (questionable) and star forward Brady Martin (doubtful.) The Hounds also need to find a starting goalie, unless Landon Miller returns as an overage and comes through at age 20.
There are some building blocks out there, though, such as forwards Jordan Charron, Quinn McKenzie, Travis Hayes and Noah Laus and defenseman Callum Croskery.
Then again, there is now the looming threat of OHL players leaving early to go play at the Division 1, National Collegiate Athletic Association level. (Sidebar question: Do players who leave the OHL for the NCAA actually go to school and attend class? Sidebar answer: LOL.)
At any rate, back to first things first. The Hounds not only need a new head coach but they need a good one who can restore some faith among their faithful followers.
Ah, that long lost faith.
Still, we hand it to the Greyhound fans of many, many years — Chris Sierzputowski immediately comes to mind — who have supported the team through thick and thin. Yes, they may whine and bitch and moan about the goings on of the past several years. But if I was paying pretty good money to buy a ticket into Memorial Gardens to watch the Hounds of the OHL and I didn’t feel I was getting my money’s worth, I would be whining and bitching and moaning, too. (And what about the price of beer inside the rink? FFS, as we say.)
Meantime — I love that word — it has been since 2018 since the Hounds actually played to potential and gave Hound Town something to sing about and get in the swing about.
What’s next? Who has the answer?
photo by Bob Davies
