Bert Templeton
Bert Templeton (May 11, 1940 in Irvine, Scotland – December 5, 2003) was a junior ice hockey coach. He worked primarily in the Ontario Hockey League from 1974 to 2003.
Templeton has been compared to Hockey Hall of Fame coach Brian Kilrea for his longevity and respect in the hockey world. He was hired into the OHA at age 34, previously to that he was coaching the Jr B Hamilton Jr B red wings and that team went on to win the Sutherland cup. This team was owned by Cupido/finochio and when the sale went through for them to buy the OHA Hamilton Red Wings. They wanted to change the franchise. The changed the name to the Fincups as well as hired all new scouting and coaches included a young Bert Templeton. It worked instantly as the first season they went to the division finals and then in only the second season behind the bench he coached the Hamilton Fincups to the Memorial Cup in 1976, and was the longest-serving coach in North Bay Centennials history, serving as their boss for twelve of the team's twenty seasons. He coached the Canadian World Junior team in Piestany. He also coached the Barrie Colts and Sudbury Wolves in the OHL, the Niagara Falls Flyers, and the American Hockey League's Nova Scotia Voyageurs.
Templeton twice won the OHL's Coach of the Year award, represented by the Matt Leyden Trophy, in 1975 and 1994. He also twice won the OHL Executive of the Year award, in 1992 and 1996. He died in 2003 from kidney cancer. He was posthumously awarded the Bill Long Award for lifetime distinguished service to the OHL in 2005.