Monday, June 7, 2010

OJHL ELECTS NEW BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Press Release

May 27, 2010, Newmarket, Ontario – The OJHL Board of Governors announced today that a new Executive Board of Directors has been elected coming out of the 2010 OJHL AGM. Ted Nishi of the Georgetown Raiders was elected as the new Executive Chairman for the League. Tim Clayden from the Trenton Golden Hawks was elected 1st Vice Chairman for a 3rd consecutive term with Larry Playfair from the Buffalo Junior Sabres elected as 2nd Vice Chairman for a 2nd consecutive term. The league also announced the election of 4 new directors, Al Doria of the Vaughan Vipers, Carlo Coccimiglio of the Oakville Blades, Brant Snow of the North York Rangers and Scott McCrory of the Whitby Fury. The new Executive Board of Directors will oversee the direction of the OJHL for the next two seasons.

"The OJHL has made tremendous strides to move the league forward over the past several months, including the coming together of the CCHL and the OJAHL and the unprecedented contraction of 5 teams", said Ted Nishi, the newly appointed Chairman of the Executive Board of Directors. “The league will be going through a very detailed review of all processes and operations over the upcoming months to ensure that we continue to work collectively with all bodies of hockey that have an impact on the OJHL. I look forward to working with the other newly elected Board Members on behalf of our fellow Governors while moving the OJHL forward in both a positive and innovative manner”

“On behalf of the newly elected Board of Directors and the entire Board of Governors I would like to express our thanks to outgoing board members, Marc Mercier, Mike McCarron and Kevin O’Connor for their dedication and efforts over the past several months”, said Larry Playfair, 2nd Vice Chairman. “All three individuals have put a tremendous amount of time into the league and we look forward to working with them in the near future.”

The league also announced the appointment of Marty Savoy as the league’s first fulltime
Commissioner. Savoy led the OJAHL last season as the League’s Commissioner. His background includes 10 years of service for Hockey Canada where he was responsible for the operations of the five Centres of Excellence across the country. During his time with Hockey Canada, Savoy served as an active member on numerous National and Provincial committees. In addition to his committee work Savoy was the Event Manager for a number of Ontario Provincial Championships. Savoy was part of the team staff for the 2002 Men's World Championship team, where he served as the team leader for Canada. Savoy left Hockey Canada in 2005 to work in the Marketing Department at Tim Horton's in Calgary, Alberta. From Tim Horton's he went on to a work for a mobile content distribution company as the Director of Marketing and Communications and then as Director of Business Development for North
America.

“The OJHL Board of Governors overwhelmingly recognized that in order for our league to move
forward in a direction that would re-establish the OJHL as one of the best Junior A Hockey Leagues throughout North America, as a priority we needed to establish fulltime leadership. The league required an individual with a very diverse background and skills set, offset by a strong knowledge base of hockey at all levels” stated 3rd term OJHL Vice Chairman, Tim Clayden. “Marty worked tirelessly for the league over the past year and has proven that he is the person that can lead the OJHL to the next level. His knowledge of key issues such as organizational development, marketing and events, new media, hockey operations and the overall structure of hockey across this land on all levels will be a tremendous asset to our league. The OJHL is a better league today with the appointment of Marty Savoy as our fulltime Commissioner”

“I am excited about the opportunity provided to me by the OJHL Board of Governors to serve as the leagues first fulltime Commissioner,” said Savoy. “Having worked closely with the league over the past two years I am confident that we are now at a stage in the evolution of the OJHL that we can start to move the league in the right direction.”

(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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