Friday, May 7, 2010

Cirella and Hunt Join Generals Coaching Staff

Press Release

The Oshawa Generals are pleased to announce they have hired former Generals Captain Joe Cirella as their Assistant Coach & Assistant General Manager and Roger Hunt as their Assistant Coach & Director of Player Personnel.

Cirella, originally played for the Generals from 1981 through 1983 and was Captain of the Generals J. Ross Robertson Cup winning team as OHL Champions in his last season. He was selected 5th Overall in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft by the Colorado Rockies. He played in over 800 career NHL games with the Rockies, New Jersey Devils, Quebec Nordiques, New York Rangers, Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators.

Upon retiring from playing, Cirella spent a season as an Assistant Coach of the Florida Panthers before joining the Generals where he served as an Assistant Coach from 1998 through 2004. Last season he served as a Defensive Consultant for the Peterborough Petes.

Hunt, had a ten-year professional hockey career where he spent time in the Central Hockey League and British National League. Upon retiring as a player Hunt became coach of Edinburgh Capitals of the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) in the United Kingdom. He spent eight seasons with the Dundee Stars as Head Coach of the EIHL winning numerous championships.

The Dunnville, Ontario native also has experience internationally and was the first coach to ever lead the Great Britain National Junior Team to qualify to the Division 1 portion of the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships. In total, Hunt has served as a Head Coach twice and an Assistant Coach four times at the World Junior Hockey Championships as well as an Assistant Coach at the IIHF Men’s Division 1 World Championships.


(Nathan also is a writer for Maineiacs Post to Post and the Maine Hockey Journal. He can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)

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