Coach Cameron Officially Headed to Ottawa

Press Release

Majors General Manager and Head Coach Dave Cameron has officially been named an Assistant Coach with the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. Cameron joins new Head Coach Paul MacLean’s staff. Cameron will be heading to Ottawa with a familiar face as Owen Sound Attack Head Coach Mark Reeds was also named to the staff. The two faced off in a the Rogers OHL Championship Series that went to overtime in game seven just over a month ago and again in late May at the MasterCard Memorial Cup in Mississauga.

Cameron, 52, is a native of Kinkora, PEI. He has spent a total of ten seasons in the Ontario Hockey League – two as Head Coach of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, four as Director of Hockey Operations and Head Coach of the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors and four as General Manager and Head Coach of the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors.

In eight seasons with the Majors organization, Cameron reached the Eastern Conference finals a total of six times – winning the Bobby Orr Trophy as Eastern Conference Champions this past season. In 2000-01, Cameron’s first year with the club, he took the Majors, a franchise that had never made the post season in the modern era, to the Eastern Conference Championship Series. That was the start of four consecutive finals appearances. During those four year’s behind the bench in Toronto, Cameron coached future NHL players Matt Ellis, Kevin Klein, Peter Budaj, Justin Peters, Darryl Boyce and Tim Brent to name a few.

After four successful seasons in Toronto, Cameron was named the Head Coach of the Binghamton Senators of the American Hockey League. In his first season with the B-Sens, Cameron posted a 47-21-0-12 record with the likes of Jason Spezza and Ray Emery in the line up. Cameron stayed in Binghamton until 2007 when he was asked to return to the Majors who were in the midst of a move from Toronto to Mississauga, and coming off a last place finish in the OHL’s Eastern Conference.

Cameron’s first move back with the Majors was to draft Casey Cizikas with the third overall pick in the 2007 OHL Priority Selection. He also drafted Brett Flemming and made a deal for Jordan Mayer that season. That year, Cameron guided the team to a fifth place finish and a spot in the playoffs, a massive improvement from the 2006-07 season. The next year, the team continued to improve with the addition of overager Jared Gomes, the emergence of Mike Pelech and Chris Carrozzi as elite players and the arrival of then rookie netminder JP Anderson, who was stellar for the Majors in the playoffs, guiding the Majors to the second round. In year three of the re-build, Cameron led the Majors back to the Eastern Conference Championship Series, only to lose to the Barrie Colts in five games.

The 2010-11 season was the pinnacle of Coach Cameron’s re-build of the organization. The team posted their best record in club history and captured the Hamilton Spectator Trophy with the best record in the Ontario Hockey League during the regular season. The team also returned to the Eastern Conference Final and for the first time in the modern era of the franchise, the double blue captured the Bobby Orr Trophy as Eastern Conference Champions. In the OHL Final, Cameron and the Majors lost a heartbreaking seven game series to the Owen Sound Attack, losing the final game in overtime. The Majors had a shot at redemption, heading into the MasterCard Memorial Cup as the host team. The Majors had an impressive showing, despite losing to the Saint John Sea Dogs in the final game. In the end, the Majors finished the 2010-11 season with a second place finish in the MasterCard Memorial Cup, a second place finish in the Ontario Hockey League, a Hamilton Spectator Trophy win and they captured the Bobby Orr Trophy as Eastern Conference Champions.

Cameron leaves the Majors holding every coaching record. His record as coach of the Majors was 310-178-30-26. During his time in junior hockey, he also won a gold medal as an Assistant Coach at the World Junior Hockey Championship in 2009, a silver as an Associate Coach in 2010 and another silver medal as Head Coach of Canada’s World Junior team in 2011.

The Majors will be announcing their 2011-12 Coaching staff soon.

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