By Adam Brazeau
CORNWALL, Ontario – The Cornwall River Kings have hired Olivier Filion as their next head coach.
Filion, 31, played for the River Kings briefly last fall, and a few seasons ago, he was a player/coach with the CHL’s Missouri Mavericks.
The announcement was made at a press conference at the Civic Complex Tuesday night.
“I don’t think I could start a coaching career in a better place,” said Filion. “Cornwall is a hockey town with great fans that will be there game after game to cheer you on and we have an owner who wants to do everything to build a championship team for this city.”
Filion, a resident of Saint-Sauveur, Que., will be working alongside general manager Rick Lalonde and his assistant Al Wagar. Cornwall native Roch Seguin has been named his assistant coach.
“After playing in this league for the last three years, I know what the players want and expect from a coach,” he said. “Fans can expect a high tempo game with a lot of energy. No team will come to our rink and run the show – we will.”
Meanwhile, two more players have joined the River Kings: Julien Corriveau and Anthony Mezzagno, as well as fan favourite Mario Joly, who was re-acquired during the off-season from Laval.
The River Kings’ top scorer and several fan favourites are also among nine veterans who have come to terms with the LNAH team: forwards Jean-Philippe Caron, Chris Cloutier, Nicolas Corbeil, Pierre-Luc Faubert and Francis Lessard, as well as defencemen Doug Andress, Jonathan Jasper of Williamstown and Ryan Sullivan of Cardinal.
The River Kings will be hitting the ice this September.
