Sarnia
Legionnaires
bench boss Dan
Rose has been
named Ontario
Hockey
Association
coach-of-the-year.
The Point Edward native will accept the prestigious award
June 8 during a
ceremony at the
Hockey Hall of
Fame in Toronto.
Rose said winning the award is an honour, but he was quick to
add he couldn't
have won it
without the help
of his
assistants and
players.
Rose has been coaching for 37 years, ever since he took the
reigns of a
house league
club at the
tender age of
17.
Winning the OHA honour as coach of the Legionnaires was
especially
thrilling, he
said, because he
was a fan of the
team when he was
a boy growing up
in Point Edward.
Legionnaire general manager Bob Williamson said the award
takes in all OHA
clubs, including
Jr. 'B,' Tier II
Jr. 'A' and Jr.
'C' and 'D'
leagues, among
others.
Williamson believes the honour will help the team recruit
players because
good athletes
will want to
play for a coach
with such an
impressive
record.
This past winter, in his first full season behind the Sarnia
bench, Rose took
the Legionnaires
from seventh
place to first.
Along the way,
the club set a
record for most
consecutive
wins.