Ontario Hockey Association

The Wallaceburg Lakers are celebrating their 35^th anniversary this year.  Come join the party. Make Wednesday a Laker night.

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Mark Davis returned with the Wallaceburg Lakers from their trip to Florida at 3:30 on Saturday morning.

A few hours later, he was watching prospects at the Leamington Flyers' mini camp as their new head coach.

His departure leaves the Lakers trying to replace the coach who helped turn around the franchise after four straight last-place seasons.

"That's what happens when you have a good team," Lakers director of hockey operations Stuart McFadden said. "If your team was not competitive and didn't show improvement and wasn't a good team, no one would want your coach. That's the price you pay."

Davis agreed to coach the Flyers and told the Lakers' management before going to Daytona, but the hiring wasn't officially announced until Monday.

He guided the Lakers to a 24-11-2-2 record this season and a berth in the Great Lakes Junior 'C' Hockey League final.

It was his second stint in Wallaceburg. He also coached the Lakers in four seasons from 1996-2000, going to three straight league finals and winning the Great Lakes title in 1999.

"Wallaceburg's been great to me," said Davis, 47. "My heart's in Wallaceburg, but I'm at the point in my career if I don't do this now, I'll never do it. I'll just sit back and say, 'Coulda, shoulda.' So I did it."

He replaces Butch Ott, who resigned following a sixth-place season and quarter-final exit from the Western Ontario Hockey League playoffs.

Pete Anthony targeted Davis after being hired as the Flyers' general manager last month.

"He's had success at all levels of hockey," Anthony said. "He's very dedicated and committed. He works very hard at his job and he expects a lot from his players."

Leamington is Davis's fourth team in the Western junior 'B' league. He won championships at the other three stops in Chatham, Petrolia and Sarnia.

"I might as well do them all before I retire," he said, laughing.

Davis coached the Maroons to a championship in 2006.

He also won a Great Lakes title with the Mooretown Flags and was an assistant coach for the United Hockey League's Motor City Mechanics in 2004-05.

Davis takes assistant coach Paul Grealis with him to Leamington. His other assistant on the bench will be former Wheatley Sharks head coach Dave Wiper.

Dresden Kings general manager Wayne Cowell will scout for the Flyers.

The Lakers have already been in touch with some potential head coaches, McFadden said Monday.

"The president of the club (Paul Bilodeau) has talked to a couple guys," McFadden said. "I'm sure within a couple weeks there'll be an announcement on the direction of the Lakers."

He praised Davis for coaching the Lakers for free while the team tried to erase a debt racked up by previous management.

"Mark never asked for 10 cents to coach the Lakers," McFadden said.

Davis will be missed, he added, but "we would never hold a guy like Mark Davis back or second-guess his decision. He has to take care of his family and his career."

Davis was impressed by the Flyers' persistence. They called several times asking for a meeting.

"They hounded me," he said. "They were aggressive and they came after me."

          

Tuesday March 18 @ Essex 7:30 pm
Essex 8  Lakers 2

Wednesday March 19 @ Wallaceburg 7:30 pm
Essex 4  Lakers 1

Tuesday March 25 @ Essex 7:30 pm
Essex  5  Lakers  0

Wednesday March 26 @ Wallaceburg 7:30 pm
Essex  2  Lakers  1

Friday March 28 @ Essex 7:30 pm

Sunday March 30 @ Wallaceburg 7:30 pm

Tuesday April 1 @ Essex 7:30 pm

The Wallaceburg Lakers  /  Blenheim Blades