A former OHL goalie has joined the Windsor Spitfires staff.
The club has hired Mark Packwood as its new head athletic specialist. He succeeds Joey Garland in that position in Windsor.
Garland, who had worked for the Spits for 13 seasons and was part of three Memorial Cup-winning squads, left the team to spend more time with his family.
Packwood was a goaltender in the OHL between 2004 and 2008, playing in 40 games for the Kitchener Rangers and Oshawa Generals. He went on to attend Brock University and recently earned his second master's degree, from Western University.
Since then he has worked at the Fowler Kennedy Sports Medicine Clinic and served as an assistant with the London Knights.
Spitfires general manager Warren Rychel says Packwood joins the team as the athletic specialist based on his hockey IQ and his playing experience.o
"Mark played in the league and has been around the game a long time," Rychel said in a statement. "But what really impressed me was his intelligence and his commitment. He's got more than enough education to be here and now the practical experience to replace Joey, who is a hard act to follow."
Packwood will be responsible for overseeing all conditioning and training aspects of the organisation. He is due to join the Spitfires full-time next month, the team says.