President’s Message
Welcome, Komoka Kings fans, to our 9th season at the Komoka Wellness Centre. It feels
good to be returning to the rink, after what always feels like a long offseason.
This year is one of major change and excitement for both our league and our team.
We are now part of the Greater Ontario Hockey League (GOHL), the official development league of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). This is more than just a name change. Our league is now recognized as the premier pathway for young players to continue their development to play Major Junior Hockey in the OHL. Over our years in Komoka, we have been able to advance dozens of players to higher levels and we look forward to continuing to do so under our league’s new name.
For the team, it has been a big offseason, and we can’t wait to share the fruits of our labour
with you, the fans.
Firstly, let’s touch on off-ice changes. We have completely revamped our hockey operations staff. We have brought in Adam Simpson as Assistant GM. Adam helped build the Ontario Champion Elgin-Middlesex Canucks U18 team last season, leading them all the way to the National Championship Tournament. At Head Coach, we have brought in Johnny Warren. Johnny has had years of success coaching in the Elgin-Middlesex Canucks program, including the U16 team last year, and is a former player for the London Knights, who now works in their front office as a Hockey Operations Assistant. Joining Johnny on the bench are Rich Brown as Associate Coach, Bob White as Assistant Coach, and Brendan O’Neill as goalie coach. All of these gentlemen bring a wealth of experience and knowledge that will help our team continue to grow.
We have also made some significant investments into the dressing room. This includes player amenities like seat cushions in stalls, as well as aesthetic improvements such as repainting the black for Komoka Kings’ purple, adding purple trim to each stall, adding new wall logos and putting up a large LED Kings logo.
On the roster, we have 16 new faces taking the ice in a Kings uniform. This includes eight from the provincial champion Elgin-Middlesex Canucks and nine OHL-drafted players, the most on one roster in our time in Komoka.
Additionally, we have continued to fortify our partnerships in the local community. Our partnership with the Municipality of Middlesex Centre allows us to continue having practice times that benefit players and top notch facilities. Our new marketing coordinator, Jamie Rogers, has been out in the community ensuring we continue to serve our tremendous community partners, as they are part of the fabric of our team.
We have a strong core of returning staff that will help us continue progressing on and off the ice. Ray Giffen returns and takes on the role of Director of Hockey Administration. Brian McAllister is back as a Hockey Operations Assistant. Darryl, and Ed Bond return as equipment managers, and Braiden Procure returns as trainer. On the media side, Dylan Baker continues to oversee our media, while he takes on a new challenge with the Guelph Storm of the OHL. We welcome Claire Ankers as social media coordinator/in-game host, Bill Bourne as play-by-play broadcaster, Zach Black as graphic designer, and BJ Klompstra as photographer.
With that said, we would not be the Komoka Kings without our great game day volunteers
led by Akhil Chindani. There are many others that volunteer their time to make our fans’ game day experience a great one. This includes the Optimist Club members who also partner with the Kings on various game day activities. I also want to thank Barry Irwin and Paul Mylemans for their years of work with the team as game day volunteers, helping establish a foundation for us to build upon this season as they move on.
Another key component of our team are the great local partners that sponsor and support
our team and without these businesses we would not be able to have a great program for
our players to continue their hockey development.
On behalf of the entire Komoka Kings organization, I welcome you. Our goals are simple:
strive to be the best team in the league both on and off the ice and create a fan experience
second-to-none.
GO KINGS GO!
Roop Chanderdat
Owner, President, and GM
