A familiar face is taking the top job at Eastern Ontario’s premier Junior A hockey league.
Former Ottawa Senator Jesse Winchester was recently named commissioner of the 12-team Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL), which operates just below Canada’s major junior leagues like the OHL and QMJHL.
Winchester is a CCHL alum, having played for the Cornwall Colts from 2001 to 2004. From there, he played university hockey in the U.S. at Colgate before he was signed by the Senators in 2007-08. He played six seasons for the Sens before he left for Finland during the 2012-13 NHL lockout. He returned to the NHL for a final season in 2013-14 with the Florida Panthers.
A concussion derailed his career after joining the Colorado Avalanche the following year, and he retired in 2015-16 without playing a regular season game with the Avs.
Winchester eventually joined the CCHL’s Brockville Braves from 2017 to 2019, winning consecutive consecutive coach of the year awards.
