The Ottawa Senators didn’t take long to replace Ryan Bowness as their AHL General Manager in Belleville.
Senators GM and president of hockey operations Steve Staios announced on Thursday that the club has hired former Brantford Bulldogs GM Matt Turek to take over the same role with the AHL’s Belleville Senators. He’ll also oversee a player personnel role with the Sens organization.
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Turek is part of that Hamilton/Brantford connection, working for Staios and former Bulldogs owner Michael Andaleur.
Turek joined the Bulldogs during the 2015-16 season as a scout. He moved up in the organization and took on the role of director of player personnel ahead of the 2018-19 season. He took over as the club’s GM in 2022 when Staios left for a hockey ops job with the Edmonton Oilers.
After three seasons at the helm, Turek left the Bulldogs late last month, which started the rumour mill turning that he might reunite with Andlauer and Staios. When Bowness parted company with the club 11 days ago, that added more fuel to the fire.
“Matt has managed a successful Ontario Hockey League team and he has gained a critical management skills and experience at that level,” Staios in a club press release. “In addition to his experience, Matt will bring passion and leadership to our organization.”
As for the Bulldogs, now owned by Oilers forward Zack Hyman and his family, they announced on Thursday they’ve replaced Turek with Zack’s brother, Spencer Hyman. Former NHL player Gary Roberts also joined the Bulldogs as one of their directors of player development.
Meanwhile, his stop in Belleville has turned out to be the swan song for Sam Gagner.
Gagner has ended his long NHL playing career and was named Ottawa’s director of player development. Gagner has a fine connecton to Staios as well. They were teammates in Edmonton for three and a half years. Staios was even teammates with Sam father’s, Dave, during their time with the Vancouver Canucks.
“Sam had an incredible career as a player and we look forward to launching his next chapter,” Staios said in the release. “A true character individual, Sam has contributed to the success of his organizations, both on and off the ice.”
Gagner played 1043 NHL games and is the only man in the past 36 years to score 8 points in a single NHL game.
Steve Warne, Site Editor
The Hockey News Ottawa
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