Longtime Kootenay Ice head coach Ryan McGill is sticking around Owen Sound for another year.
McGill signed a two-year contract with the Ontario Hockey League’s Owen Sound Attack last summer after a mutual parting of ways with the Western Hockey League’s Kootenay Ice.
Monday afternoon, the Attack announced McGill had signed a one-year extension with the club, keeping him under wraps through the 2017-18 season.
“We are thrilled to have Ryan with us through the 2017-18 season,” said Dale DeGray, general manager of the Attack, in a team release. “It was Ryan’s desire to stay and a priority for us to have him here, so this is a very positive step for our organization moving forward.”
The 2015-16 campaign saw the 47-year-old McGill lead the Attack to a record of 33-25-8-3, good enough for a sixth-place finish in the OHL’s Western Conference. The Attack lost out to the eventual Memorial Cup champion London Knights in a six-game first round playoff series.
“My first year in Owen Sound was fantastic,” McGill said in a team release. “The city, the people and the upward trajectory of this team are all positive. I’m very excited about this team and the direction we’re headed in.
“We have a very strong group of core players. There’s a lot of work to be done, but fans should be excited about what this young team has to offer.”
A native of Sherwood Park, Alta., McGill claimed his 300th junior hockey victory this past season with the Attack.
Prior to his time in Ontario, McGill was a fixture at the helm of many successful Kootenay Ice teams throughout franchise history.
He was the second coach in franchise history, taking over from Dave Siciliano midway through the 1997-98 season when the team was in the midst of its final days in Edmonton.
That stint carried through the 2001-02 season, highlighted by a pair of WHL titles (2000 and 2002) as well as a Memorial Cup championship (2002).
After eight seasons in the professional ranks (2002-03 through 2010-11), McGill returned to Cranbrook for his second stint with the Ice in 2012-13. That season, he was named WHL Coach of the Year and then took on a role as assistant coach with Team Canada’s entry into the 2014 IIHF World Junior Championship.
In eight seasons behind the Kootenay Ice bench, McGill registered a record of 280-222-53.
