The Commandos confirm staff for 2011-12 season

Press Release

The Dieppe Commandos of the Maritimes Junior Hockey League announced today their coaching staff as well as a few new members of the board of directors. Jeff LeBlanc becomes head coach of the Commandos and will have Ken Therrien and Brian Fisher as assistants. Sébastien Dupuis will also return as goaltending coach.

The Commandos accumulated a record of 9-41-1-1 last season which was a rebuilding year with 14 rookies on the roster. This coming season will be a positive one and the organization expects to return to the playoffs and compete for the Kent Cup.

The Commandos also announced that Jean-François Damphousse will take on the role of General Manager. Alexandre Ménard will return as the assistant General Manager.

“We’re very happy with our hockey staff for the upcoming season. Our coaching staff will bring a lot of energy and we strongly believe in their knowledge and their abilities to get our team to a level of performance that our fans will be proud of,” said Jean-François Damphousse.

“Jeff has acquired a lot of experience in the past few years and he will do an excellent job leading our hockey team. Ken returns for a third season and we added Brian to our coaching staff. We have a lot of work to do over the summer to get to where we want to be but we ‘re all very excited about the up coming season.”

“The 2011 draft that we are hosting in June will soon arrive and we sure hope to find a few prospects there. It will be a very interesting training camp and we can’t wait to observe the level of competition right from day 1,” added Damphousse.

The Maritime Junior Hockey League draft will be held in Dieppe on Saturday June 18. The Commandos currently have 10 picks in the 10 round draft. The Commandos will also announce their territorial picks during the month of June.

The organization also announced that 3 new directors have been added to the board. Vickie Fisher, Lynn Fisher and Jim McDonald join the group and will contribute greatly to the success of the team. Jean-Luc LeBlanc, Daniel LeBlanc and Paul LeBlanc also return as directors of the Dieppe Commandos.

(Nathan can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)