Matt Paton is the new head coach of the Woodstock Navy Vets.
WOODSTOCK - The Woodstock Navy Vets have a new head coach.
Matt Paton will take over the bench boss duties this season. He is a Woodstock native who played in the Woodstock Minor Hockey system before making the move to AAA Brantford.
President Devon Young says they are really excited to bring Paton back home to Woodstock.
"Matt is a Woodstock guy first and foremost, which makes us very happy, at the same time he is one of the most dedicated and driven people I have ever met, he's had a great hockey career as a player and we feel that he is going to be a great coach."
Paton played in the OHL with the Erie Otters for 4 seasons and was captain of the Nipissing University hockey team. He was an assistant last year to former coach Chad Sumsion who had to the leave the position after accepting a new job in the United States.
This will be the third season in a row where the Navy Vets will start the season with a new head coach. Young says they obviously didn't plan it out this way but they are happy to have Paton on board.
"Ultimately the first time was good news with Adam Wallace moving up to Junior B and this time obviously having to make a change last year wasn't something we go into the year wanting to do but we are really excited to have Matt. Always going to be important to get the guys together early. This year unfortunately we do have to start a little bit later than we would like because their is some renovations happening at the Woodstock Arena. We do have an extensive pre-season planned with the number of games and Matt is going to be in a hurry to get into the systems and I can see him getting things tapered down pretty quickly."
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