The Chatham Maroons are bringing in a familiar face as their new General Manager.
Tyler Roeszler -- who has previous ties with the Maroons both on and off the ice -- is back with the team, this time in the front office.
Roeszler was a member of the team's coaching staff from 2014-2016, spending some of that time as head coach, before stepping down from the position in May 2016. He also spent two seasons with the team as a player during the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 seasons, helping the Maroons win a league title in 2006.
He's looking forward to a fresh start with some familiar faces.
"Owner Bill Szekesy was acting as the GM for the first portion of the year and he got really busy with his businesses, so he agreed with the coaching staff to bring me on," said Roeszler. "Kevin [Fisher] was the assistant GM when I was coaching a few years back in Chatham, so I know him -- and I worked with Bino Perreira who's the goalie coach and I know head coach Kyle Makaric and his staff through the hockey world the last few years."
Since he left the Maroons, Roeszler has also spent some time as an assistant coach with the University of Windsor and as a skills coach with the Windsor Spitfires.
Now that he's back with the team, Roeszler's focus is on developing the young talent they have assembled so that they can build up a strong supporting cast for their top line.
"There's still the firepower, but I do think that we're one of the youngest teams in the league... and a lot of times it takes a good third to half of the year [for rookies] to get used to the speed of the game and the different things that they are used to in minor hockey," said Roeszler. "We can try to bring them up to speed as quick as we can on-ice and using video to teach them."
The Maroons' next game is Friday night in St. Marys where they'll take on the Lincolns.