DePiero has moved steadily towards OHL coaching job
Feb 17, 2008 - 12:00 AM
By Brian McNair
OSHAWA -- It’s not the way he envisioned it shaking down, but when Chris DePiero was named head coach of the Oshawa Generals on Monday, it fulfilled a lifelong dream.
He was pegged for that post when Brad Selwood brought him in as an associate coach and assistant general manager at the start of last season, but it was a move most felt would take place this summer.
However, with the team struggling defensively of late, Selwood made the shocking decision to hand the coaching reins over to DePiero with less than a quarter of this season remaining.
“It’s certainly been a goal of mine to become a head coach in the Ontario Hockey League,” DePiero says. “You never know how or when, so at this stage certainly it was a bit of a shock to me, but I am willing to accept the challenge. It’s something I’ve prepared myself for, for a long time.”
At 39, DePiero has moved nicely up the hockey ranks, enough so to make a full-time living at the sport he loves.
After playing and earning a teaching degree at the University of Toronto, DePiero spent some time in Italy as a player/assistant coach, then returned to U of T as an assistant coach for four years.
He then spent a season as head coach of the Brampton Capitals before being hired in the same post by the St. Michael’s Buzzers to help resurrect a franchise that had been on hiatus.
In seven years at St. Mike’s, the final three as GM as well, he helped turn the Buzzers into a perennial powerhouse, leading them to back-to-back Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League titles before he left.
“It was a dream job for me because I’d gone to St. Mike’s and in a lot of ways, it was my home away from home,” says DePiero, who was named the school’s outstanding graduating athlete in 1987 and later taught there until being hired by the Generals. “When I became a head coach at Tier 2, it validated a lot of things in my mind about my desire and ability to coach at that level.”
With the time now at hand to find out about the next level, those above him are confident he’ll pass the muster.
“That’s why I brought him in here in the first place. I think he’s ready,” says Selwood. “I just wanted him to learn the league and learn the players. My timing may be a couple of months premature here, but I feel it’s in the best interest of everybody and I’m very comfortable he’ll do a good job.”
“Chris is an elite coach and he’s got a proven track record,” adds Gens co-owner Rocco Tullio. “I can tell you one thing, that every night this team will fight as if it’s a war, regardless of who we play. You’re going to see a different mentality.”
season and made moves at the trading deadline designed to win a championship.
He says he won’t make drastic changes to the systems in place, but will demand a more consistent effort, especially defending the goal.
“It’s going to be incumbent upon me to make sure it does happen,” he says. “I guess I’ll be judged on that.”
“It’s a day by day process,” he adds. “We’re not going to be champions just because we want to be champions. We’re going to have to be champions on a daily basis. I think that’s the ultimate message from me.”
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