Press Release from the Port Colborne Sailors Hockey Club:
The WestPier Port Colborne Sailors will have new names guiding the ship starting in the 2024/25 season. Owner and President of the Hockey Club, Scott Barnes is stepping down from his General Manager and Head Coaching positions. Taking over in these roles will be Christian Wiley as the Vice President & General Manager and Kevin Rosebrugh as the Head Coach and Assistant General Manager.
Wiley comes to Port Colborne after most recently being the General Manager for the Hamilton Kilty B’s where he won a Golden Horseshoe Championship and guided the team to back to back finals and one Sutherland Cup appearance, boasting a record of 78-14-6 over two seasons, and 23-10-2 through two playoff runs.
Rosebrugh most recently has been coaching in the Southern Tier Admirals AAA organization and brings a wealth of knowledge, structure, and passion for the game, while developing up and coming talent at the pivotal U16 age group.
Barnes, who will be remaining as President of the organization, is ecstatic about the new hires.
“Both Christian and Kevin will bring a lot of professionalism to this team and create the culture and accountability that I am looking for both on and off the ice. They have both had a lot of success recently, with Christian and the Kilty’s Championship while moving a lot of players up the ranks. Kevin has had a ton of success with the 2004 and 2007 age groups, and even going back as far as the 2001 group. A great deal of his players have been drafted high and gone on to be really good players at the next level. We want to put an emphasis on winning and development and both of these guys have done a great job of that.”
After being the GM and Head Coach for the past 7 seasons, Barnes recognized it was time for a change.
“This season didn’t go the way we all wanted and with my two young boys playing and being busy with them it was getting to be a challenge. I knew something had to give and I needed to find the right guys to guide the ship. This allows me to oversee everything both on and off the ice but also the ability to have more family time. I couldn’t be more excited to bring Christian and Kevin into the fold and get this season going. I know they are already on the phones recruiting and getting after it”
When asked about the opportunity, the Sailors new VP & GM had this to say:
“Coming into a a team like Port Colborne with the opportunity at hand feels very in line with what I have to offer. I gained a lot of experience in my time in Hamilton and am truly thankful for that opportunity and for the people there. The situation with the Sailors provides a new challenge with a team and a town ready for more. I’m excited to get going, assemble a staff and roster, and build a program that Port will be proud of. We want to bring a party to the Vale Centre every weekend and we hope our community will come out and support, as we in turn look for opportunities to support the community.
The new Head Coach and AGM was also excited by the opportunity:
“I’m grateful for this opportunity Scott has given me here and I’m really looking forward to working with Christian as well. This is a great opportunity to come in here and build this team from the ground up and we’re looking forward to challenge. We will create our culture here built on accountability and put an environment in place where players want to be a part of it, knowing they can thrive. We will be a young hungry team that will be detailed and play a structured game. I’m looking forward to helping our young players develop and move them on to higher levels of hockey.”
The Sailors begin this new direction with some ice time in May, followed by Prospect Camp from June 7-9 at the Vale Centre in Port Colborne.
For more information or registration for camp, follow the link below:
