Steve Spott (born May 18, 1968) is the current head coach and general manager of the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League.
Contents |
Spott played NCAA hockey with Colgate University from 1986–1990, as he helped the team win the ECAC Hockey championship in 1990 as Colgate defeated Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 5–4 to win the Whitelaw Cup. Colgate then went on to the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship sweeping Lake Superior State University in a best of 3 Quarterfinal Series by the scores of 3–2 and 2–1. Spott scored the winning goal in Game 2, propelling Colgate University to its first ever NCAA Frozen Four. At the NCAA Frozen Four, Colgate defeated Boston University in the semifinals 3–2, however, Colgate lost to the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the final game played at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. Colgate is the last ECAC Hockey team to reach the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship final game.
After college hockey, Spott turned pro, and spent the 1990–91 season with the Richmond Renegades of the East Coast Hockey League and the Newmarket Saints of the American Hockey League. Spott played with the Heerenveen Flyers of the Eredivisie in Holland for the 1991–92 season before retiring.
| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1986–87 | Colgate University | NCAA | 33 | 21 | 13 | 34 | 34 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1987–88 | Colgate University | NCAA | 32 | 14 | 16 | 30 | 30 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1988–89 | Colgate University | NCAA | 29 | 20 | 15 | 35 | 58 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1989–90 | Colgate University | NCAA | 37 | 20 | 29 | 49 | 91 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1990–91 | Richmond Renegades | ECHL | 27 | 14 | 14 | 28 | 18 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1990–91 | Newmarket Saints | AHL | 20 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1991–92 | Heerenveen Flyers | NED | 30 | 22 | 25 | 47 | 50 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 25 | 8 | ||
| NCAA Totals | 121 | 75 | 73 | 148 | 213 | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| ECHL Totals | 27 | 14 | 14 | 28 | 18 | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| AHL Totals | 20 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| NED Totals | 30 | 22 | 25 | 47 | 50 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 25 | 8 | ||||
Spott was selected OCAA Coach of the Year in 1994–95 with Seneca College, and then spent the time coaching the Markham Waxers of the Metro Junior A Hockey League before landing his first Ontario Hockey League job as an assistant coach of the Plymouth Whalers from 1997–2001, which is where he first worked with Whalers head coach Peter DeBoer. In 2001, both DeBoer and Spott would leave the Whalers and move to the Kitchener Rangers, where DeBoer was once again the head coach and general manager, while Spott took the assistant coaching job and assistant general manager job. DeBoer would leave the Rangers in 2008 to take a job with the Florida Panthers, and the Rangers promoted Spott to become the head coach and general manager of the club.
In his first season as head coach with the Rangers in 2008–09, the rebuilding club failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since the 2000–01 season.
The Rangers improved greatly in Spott's second season as head coach in 2009–10, as Kitchener improved by 34 points, as they had a 42–19–4–3 record, as Kitchener finished in second place in the Midwest Division. The Rangers defeated the Saginaw Spirit in six games in the Western Conference quarter-finals, then the team upset the favoured London Knights in seven games in the semi-finals. Kitchener then faced the heavily favoured Windsor Spitfires in the Western Conference finals, and went up 3 games to 0 in the best of seven series, however, the Spitfires came all the way back, and defeated the Rangers in seven games. It marked the first time since 2005 that a team came back from a 3–0 deficit to win a series.
Kitchener had another solid season in 2010–11, as the club had a 38–21–4–5 record, earning 85 points, and second place in the Midwest Division for the second consecutive season. Kitchener faced off against the Plymouth Whalers in the Western Conference quarter-finals, however, the club was upset by the Whalers in seven games.
| Team | Year | Regular Season | Post Season | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | L | OTL | SL | Pts | Finish | Result | ||
| KIT | 2008–09 | 68 | 26 | 37 | 3 | 2 | 57 | 5th in Midwest | Missed Playoffs |
| KIT | 2009–10 | 68 | 42 | 19 | 4 | 3 | 91 | 2nd in Midwest | Lost in Third round |
| KIT | 2010–11 | 68 | 38 | 21 | 4 | 5 | 85 | 2nd in Midwest | Lost in First round |