The Buffalo Junior Sabres have hired former Sabres forward John Tucker to be head coach of their Ontario Junior Hockey League team.
Tucker takes over for former Sabres captain Michael Peca, who will remain the team’s general manager. Peca has added other duties to his expanding role in the Junior Sabres youth hockey organization, and will not have enough time to lead the team with the addition of those duties.
Peca, has been named director of hockey operations for the entire Junior Sabres organization and will also drop down to coach the Junior Sabres’ Bantam major team which is less time consuming.
Tucker, who spent parts of eight seasons during his 12-year NHL career with the Sabres, is founder and director of Xtra-Ice, an elite training academy based in Tampa, Fla. Tucker also coached HC Asiago in Italy for several years, winning two championships.
The Jr. Sabres are coming off the 2013-2014 season which saw them win the OJHL West Division with a record of 31-16-3-3
Preparing for the move to Buffalo’s new Harbor Center in 2014, the Jr. Sabres are hopping for continued success in their new state of the art home, with their new head coach.
Joe Hughes
