Navy Vets name new bench boss as team cleans house

The Woodstock Navy Vets have hired Andy Bathgate as head coach as the team prepares for its inaugural season in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (Contributed Photo)

Lee Griffi, Editor

If hockey pedigree counts for anything the Woodstock Navy Vets have made one heck of a move.

The Greater Ontario Hockey League’s newest team has hired Andy Bathgate as its new head coach. He is the grandson of one of the top 100 hockey players to ever play the game and will lead the team into its inaugural season in the Greater Ontario Hockey League (GOHL) after moving up from the Provincial Junior Hockey League.

The other Andy Bathgate passed away on February 26, 2016, at the age of 83. He was a Hockey Hall of Fame winger best known for his years with the New York Rangers, though he also played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, and Pittsburgh Penguins.

Bathgate won the Hart Memorial Trophy in 1959, helped Toronto win the Stanley Cup in 1964, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1978. His No. 9 jersey was retired by the Rangers in 2009.

“I was blessed to be the first-born in my family so I was given the name,” said Bathgate. “My father’s name is Bill so he didn’t have that carry on from my grandpa. He’s the one who had to deal with all the pressure growing up.”

He added when he was growing up, kids didn’t really know much about his famous family member, just that he was a big deal.

“I didn’t have to deal with much of that. The beautiful thing is he was involved in my hockey career growing up. My dad was my head coach and was grandfather was an assistant on my bench all the way up to my U16 season, my draft year to the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). He wasn’t the x’s and o’s guy, that was more my dad’s role, but he was the little things kind of coach.”

Bathgate said a dozen players from that U16 team were drafted to the OHL and several of them had professional careers.

“I bet if you asked more than half of them, they would attribute it to my grandfather. He would tell you things that, at the time, didn’t really make sense. Then you would go out and try it, and its like, how did he know that? Then you realize he was one of the best players of all time and he knew a lot more then we did.”

The 35-year-old coach runs the family business along with his brothers, a driving range in Mississauga, but lives in Woodstock after marrying a woman from the Friendly City.

“My dad built it with my grandfather. My grandfather worked there until he couldn’t any more and then my dad took it over for the last 10 or 15 years and now its my brothers and I.”

Bathgate, who spent the past six seasons coaching within the Halton Hurricanes AAA program, explained he is looking to build a team that is successful both on and off the ice.

“Our kids need to be good in the community, not just good hockey players, but good people. We are trying to build a group just like that.”

He added he and his wife will be starting a family in a few months and coaching locally was a big part of his decision to accept the role along with the jump to junior from minor hockey.

“Minor hockey brings its own set of challenges. Coaching at the junior level and having the opportunity where every single kid wants to move on to the next level was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down. It’s been a great run coaching in Halton and it’s a great organization.”

Bathgate said he is friends with some of the Navy Vet officials which only made his decision easier. He added he will be in a position to announce the rest of his staff soon.

“The jump to Junior B requires more of a commitment and I am asking my guys to be as committed as me or as close as possible. Just working on the last details here but it should be finalized in the next week or so.”

On the ice, he explained there are challenges to being a new team in the GOHL but added there are also some advantages.

“We will be keeping maybe two or three players from last year’s team. Everyone who is on the outside looking in knows there will be plenty of opportunity here. We are going to be young because it is going to be tough to trade for a bunch of 19- and 20-year-olds. We can hopefully build an identity that can transfer into the next two or three years.”

Bathgate added a few quality players contacted the team out of nowhere which was a pleasant surprise and they were quickly signed.

“There is a lot of buzz around the town. The team is doing a good job trying to create excitement. I don’t think it will be difficult to ice a team, now are we going to be able to find the right guys, that’s the biggest issue. Putting together a squad of 23 new players from U18, a little Junior C, maybe a little Junior B in there, it will be a big-time melting pot. We have plenty of options and hopefully we make the right decisions.”

Vets General Manager Darren Young said the team is excited to welcome Bathgate to the team.

“As we continue building our program for the move to the GOHL, it was important for us to find a coach who not only understands the game at a high level, but who also values player development, culture and community. We believe Andy is an outstanding fit for where we are headed as an organization.”

Bathgate, a Brampton native, was selected in the third round of the Ontario Hockey League Draft by the Belleville Bulls in 2007 and spent four seasons with the organization before continuing his OHL career with the Plymouth Whalers. During his junior career, Bathgate recorded 180 points in 240 OHL games while competing in two Memorial Cup tournaments. He was later selected 150th overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the NHL entry draft.

Following his OHL career, Bathgate played seven seasons professionally with experience in the American Hockey League (AHL), East Coast Hockey league (ECHL) and also played several seasons in Europe.

“With Andy leading our bench, we are confident in the direction of our hockey operations and excited for what lies ahead,” added Young.