Warren Rychel Named as Barrie Colts New Head Coach.

Source: Dennis Pajot/Getty Images North America

Today it was announced that the Barrie Colts hired Warren Rychel as the teams, new head coach.

The news comes not long after the team announced that head coach Dale Hawerchuk would take the season off due to medical issues.

Barrie Colts head coach Dale Hawerchuk taking a leave of absence to deal with health issues.

— Gene Pereira (@GenePereira1) September 3, 2019

Here is a quote from Barrie Colts owner, Howie Campbell from the official team site.

With Dale Hawerchuk taking a leave from behind the bench, we felt we needed to bring in a seasoned hockey veteran to help lead the team this year. We consulted with many people, including Dale Hawerchuk, and we all agreed that Warren is the right man for the job.

The new coach had this to say.

Although I’m thrilled to be joining the Colts, this is not the best circumstance for anyone. I have huge respect for Dale Hawerchuk and first and foremost my thoughts are with him and his family. I’ve known Howie and the Colts organization for many years and I know this is a top-notch OHL team. I’ll do my best to work with the organization and the players to bring home a great season.

Teams Full Release with more quotes: Barrie Colts Hire Warren Rychel as Head Coach

Rychel was the GM/Owner of the Windsor Spitfires from 2006 to 2017. In that time, his team won two OHL Championships and three Memorial Cups. Rychel also had a strong NHL career which included a Stanly Cup win with the Colorado Avalanche during the 1995-96 season. To make a Colts connection to that team, former Barrie Colts Brendan Lemieux's father, Claude Lemieux was on that team.

There is some other history with the Colts but we will just skip past that as most fans are well aware of it. We would like to welcome Rychel to Barrie and look forward to how he can impact the team!