Update: Mitch Purdie being added to the Peterborough Minor Petes AAA U16 Bench Staff along with Darren Doherty and Tyler Melancon will be joining Head Coach Ryan Watts behind the bench for the 2021-2022 season. Also continuing with the bench staff will be goaltending development coach Andrew Verner.
Mitch Purdie played for the Peterborough Petes AAA novice-major bantam (2002-2009), Central Ontario Wolves AAA minor midget (2009-2010), Peterborough Petes AAA major midget (2010-2011), Lakefield Chiefs Jr. C (2011-2012), Fighting Spirit Jr hockey team (2012-2014) Captain during the 2013-2014 season, Caledonia Corvairs Jr. B (2014-2015) -- Sutherland Cup Champion
Purdie attended Worcester State University 2015-2019 achieving a Bachelor in Business Administration with a minor in Economics. He played for the Worcester State University NCAA Div III (2015-2019) and was the team captain during the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 seasons.
He was the 2019 recipient of the Margaret Nugent award which is presented annually to a senior student-athlete for their outstanding performance in the classroom as well as in athletic competition.
Welcome, Mitch!
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Darren Doherty played minor hockey in Peterborough and won the OHL Cup in his draft year. This lead to being drafted to the Ottawa 67’s and helped him obtain a scholarship to the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). Doherty decided to pursue the scholarship opportunity and helped RIT which is a Division 1 NCAA school. Doherty holds the Sr. A all-time scoring points total and won Sr. A player of the year several times. The 39-year-old also spent a year playing professionally in Germany.
Tyler Melancon was drafted by the Guelph Storm in 2005 and played in the OHL for 3 seasons before playing for 6 seasons in Europe. In his last season in Belgium, the 32-year-old Right Winger had 80 points in 21 games – 35 goals and 45 assists. Upon returning to Ontario, Melancon continued to play with the Whitby Dunlops racking up 93 points in four seasons.
Andrew Verner is the team’s goaltending development coach. He is currently an Associate Coach with the Peterborough Petes of the OHL. Andrew played for the Petes from 1989 to 1992 and then went on to have a 17-year professional career.
Head coach Ryan Watts started in the Petes AAA organization as a goaltending coach in 2008 and continues to work with goalies in the system alongside Andrew Verner. In 2009, Coach Watts became an assistant coach and spent 8 seasons as an assistant, including one run to the OMHA finals, before making the jump to head coach in 2019 with the 2006 age group.
Coach Watts is excited to be able to continue with this group. He is extremely proud of the effort and commitment from the players during the pandemic season. That work ethic, positive attitude and commitment to improving every day is what is going to foster success on and off the ice. The bench staff is working hard to create a positive atmosphere and competitive program for the upcoming 2021-2022 season which will allow the players to reach their maximum potential.
We look forward to seeing you at the rink this season and cheering on the Peterborough U16 AAA Petes!