NORTHERN ONTARIO JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
NOJHL NETWORK MEDIA UPDATE
Release Date: Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016
Rapids’ Mantha to coach OHL’s Saginaw Spirit
Saginaw, Mich. – The Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League have promoted their northern Ontario Scout and French River Rapids head coach Moe Mantha to fill the vacant head coaching position of the Spirirt, on an interim basis, Saginaw general manager Dave Drinkill announced Tuesday.
Mantha moves into the interim role after Greg Gilbert was relieved of his duties on Tuesday.
“Moe Mantha has been our Northern Ontario scout and is coming in to coach the rest of the year,” said Drinkill.
“At the conclusion of the 2015-16 season, I will be doing an extensive search to find the next head coach of the Saginaw Spirit. I want to go through a thorough process making sure we have the right leader and teacher in place for our team to be successful on and off the ice moving forward.”
“Sometimes all a team needs when they are struggling is a new message by a new messenger and I have confidence that Moe will get the best out of our players down the stretch and into the playoffs.”
Spirit President and Managing Partner Craig Goslin said “ Moe Mantha comes from a hockey family. He is a positive, high energy head coach with 20+ years of coaching experience. We are grateful that he was able to adjust from his scouting position with us to fill the role behind the bench as our interim head coach. Our obligation and commitment is to our player’s development both on and off the ice. We believe in our players and their ability to compete at a very high level.”
As for the Rapids, team ownership are expected to meet with the team and coaching staff over the next few days to put a plan in place for the balance of the season and beyond.
