Former North Bay area product Ken Peroff is back coaching in the OHL for a familiar face.
Ken Peroff, who once played for Stan Butler with the Brampton Battalion back in the 2000s, is heading to Erie as a new assistant coach to work under Butler, now the Otters' head coach.
The 33-year-old joins the Otters staff after serving as head coach with the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Hamilton Kilty B’s – his second stint with the organization. The 2022-23 season in Hamilton was Peroff’s third cumulative season as a head coach in the GOJHL, where he’d previously been named the league’s Coach of the Year award-winner in the 2017-18 & 2018-19 seasons respectively. In the latest season in Hamilton, Coach Peroff lead his Kilty B’s to a 38-7-5 record, a Golden Horseshoe Conference championship, and a third-place finish in the Sutherland Cup tournament.
Peroff played 250 games for Butler with the Battalion and was a member of the 2009 team that captured the Bobby Orr Trophy as the OHL's Eastern Conference Champions. He also spent one season behind the bench as an assistant coach with the OHL's Guelph Storm.
“I’m very excited to join the team,” said Peroff in an Otters release.
“I think the players here will find me very passionate, relatable, and committed to helping them achieve their goals of playing hockey professionally.”
For Peroff, who will work with the team's defence; the opportunity to be part of a team with such history in its locker room and as an organization comes as a great thrill.
“I’ve known Stan Butler for a long time, and look forward to working with him alongside Dave Brown, [assistant coach] Wes Wolfe, and the rest of the hockey operations department here in Erie with the shared goal of pursuing a championship.” said Peroff in a release.
“To the fans of the Erie Otters, I’m excited to meet you, and I’m very excited about the times ahead for the organization. My family and I are incredibly proud to join the Otters and become part of the Erie community. I look forward to seeing you all in September.”
See related: Butler named new head coach of the Otters
Coach Butler spoke highly of his former player, and how his qualities as a player have translated to his coaching style.
“There is a lot of familiarity between Ken and I," said Butler in a release.
"He played for me for four years, and scouted with me after his playing career came to a close. He always worked extremely hard in practice, and gave it his all in games. A lot of his attributes are things I hope he can pass on to the players.
“With three very young defencemen on our team for next season, I thought it was important for us to bring in a guy that’s played defence in the OHL, and was an all-Canadian defenceman at the University of Guelph to work with our guys.”
Peroff will begin working with the team immediately in preparation for 2023 Training Camp and the 2023-24 OHL season.