Ex-67's player Ambroziak named coach, GM of Jr. Sens.
Forwards Conor Brown, left, and Drew Anderson will be among the Jr. Senators veterans new coach Peter Ambroziak will have returning to the team's lineup next season.
File photo
The Ottawa Jr. Senators have turned to the past to take the
next step forward in the competitive Central Canada Hockey League, hiring alum
and ex-NHLer Peter Ambroziak as their new head coach and general manager.
An Ottawa native who spent part of a season with the Jr.
Senators before spending four years with the Ottawa 67’s, Ambroziak is looking
forward to the challenge.
“I think being back in the Ottawa area, I’ve been away for
quite a while and I owned and coached a junior team in the States, so I really
wanted to get back (to the city) and do that as well,” Ambroziak said. “Being a
former player in the organization and meeting Fred Crouch and the other two
governors, it just seemed like the right decision to make.
“It just seems like an organization that’s looking to really
succeed on the ice and grow. I think that’s definitely an opportunity I want to
be involved in.”
Ambroziak returned to the capital after spending more than a
decade in New Mexico, first as a player with New Mexico Scorpions of the
Western Professional Hockey League and later as the owner of the New Mexico
Renegades Junior ‘A’ club of the Western States Hockey League. He also played briefly
in the National Hockey League with the Buffalo Sabres as well as six seasons in
the American Hockey League with the Rochester Americans, Albany River Rats,
Cornwall Aces and Hershey Bears.
He is currently the head of hockey development at the Bell
Sensplex in Kanata, a position he was appointed to in March. Ambroziak will
rely heavily on his broad range of experiences in his new role with the Jr.
Senators.
“I think I bring a good background and knowledge of the
game,” he said. “I’ve played at every level, so I’ve learned from a lot of the
great coaches (in the game). I’ve been very fortunate in having some fantastic
coaching.
“On the management side, I think running and owning my own
junior team for the last few years, there’s so much to do with regards to
players and finances and making sure everything is in order,” Ambroziak said,
adding that he’s learned there’s a bit of an art to balancing coaching and
management duties.
“I feel like I have that ability to do both and make it
work.”
Following the appointment, Jr. Senators’ president and
governor Fred Crouch was equally optimistic about his new coach.
“He is very highly regarded and has an incredible amount of
experience,” said Crouch. “When we started looking for a new coach and GM, what
we were looking for was someone who had the type of experience and pedigree
that Peter does.”
Crouch said after the club and head coach Peter Howes and
his staff parted ways at the conclusion of the season, he said he and the other
governors felt it was time to look at candidates with experience outside the
eastern Ontario hockey community and could bring new ideas to the organization.
“In order to compete with the Pembrokes and the Brockvilles
and the Cornwalls of the world, you need someone with the type of background
and experience Peter Ambroziak brings.”
The new coach takes over a team that flirted with a playoff
spot during the 2010-2011 campaign but fell short, finishing one point behind
the Smiths Falls Bears in the battle for eighth place.
On the positive side, the roster returns largely intact,
with only three veteran players (Andrew Hampton, Camron Edwards and Derek
Lowry) ineligible for next season.
“The nice thing is you’ve got a good group of kids that have
experienced at least one year of junior. They know what to expect and they know
what it’s all about,” he said. “Hopefully the newer kids that you add to that
mix fit in and combine for success. That’s what we’re looking to do. I’m not
looking to rebuild a team by any means.”