RETURNING to where he has had immense success both as a player and coach, David Whistle is heading back to the United Kingdom to resume his efforts behind the bench.
It was announced late last week that the 55-year-old Thunder Bay product has been appointed the new head coach and general manager for the Leeds Chiefs, who are members of Great Britain’s National Ice Hockey League.
His new club is one of 10 teams in the NIHL, which is in the country’s second division, behind the English Elite Hockey League.
With Whistle taking the helm, he joins the NIHL, which is relatively new, having only been in operation since 2019.
Whistle, who was inducted into the United Kingdom Ice Hockey Hall of Fame back in 2013, racked up 965 points in 382 games as a centre and went on to win three club scoring titles.
A two-time coach of the year honouree, he went on to win multiple championships while guiding such clubs as the Bracknell Bees, Belfast Giants and Cardiff Devils.
He takes over a Leeds club that has plenty of work to do. The Chiefs finished in the cellar in their first year of operation before having further competition curtailed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Their home arena, Planet Ice, seats 1,800 for hockey and is also relatively new, having hosted its initial league contest back on January 31, 2020.
Also of note, Whistle’s son, Jackson, is one of the goaltenders on Great Britain’s roster that will be competing at the World Hockey Championship, which gets underway Friday in Latvia.
The netminder had a 6-2-0 record with the Nottingham Panthers in a reduced EEHL slate this season.
He did top all netminders in both goals-against average (2.56) and save percentage (.920) and posted one shutout.
Slotted in Group A, Great Britain opens play Saturday vs. Russia while Canada begins Group B competition Friday against the host Latvians.
PLAYOFF PRODUCTION: With the National Hockey League playoffs getting underway a limited number of local players will have the opportunity to raise their career postseason totals.
Thunder Bay’s Stanley Cup on-ice hopes rest on Eric Staal (Montreal), Jordan Staal (Carolina) and Robert Bortuzzo (St. Louis).
Eric Staal’s next postseason point will be his 52nd, which will move into a tie for 330th all-time in NHL history.
Meanwhile, Jordan Staal is four points shy of 50 in the playoffs.
Only 351 skaters of the 4,188 that have appeared in the NHL’s second season over the years have accomplished this feat.
The list of those from Thunder Bay and northwestern Ontario who have collected 20 or more playoff points include:
Chris Pronger (121); Alex Delvecchio (104); Patrick Sharp (87); Mike Richards (87); Eric Staal (51); Mike McEwen (48); Jordan Staal (46); Mike Allison (26); Dave Creighton (24); Lee Fogolin Jr. (24); Taylor Pyatt (24) and Marc Staal (20).
There is also Lakehead product Jamie Kompon who is aiming to become the first NHL assistant coach to win a Stanley Cup with three different teams.
The 54-year-old Kompon is currently in that role with the Winnipeg Jets.
He previously won back-to-back Stanley Cups while on the bench with the Los Angeles Kings (2012) and the Chicago Blackhawks (2013).
You also have Tom Blatchford of Thunder Bay, who is an assistant equipment manager with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Ironically got his start in this field during a visit to the U.K. nearly two decades ago to visit his friend David Whistle, who was coaching there at the time, and eventually started working for his team.
He’s now in his 16th season in the Maple Leafs organization.