Former Peterborough Pete and OHL Champion Cory Stillman Named Guelph Storm Head Coach

Former Peterborough Pete and OHL Champion Cory Stillman has been named the head coach of the Guelph Storm, announced on Thursday.

Photo courtesy of the Ontario HockeyLeague.

Stillman will become the club’s 18th head coach in franchise history.

“Cory brings a wealth of experience as a player and champion as well as a mentor and a teacher of young players,” said George Burnett, Storm general manager. “His desire to return to a head coaching role and lead our group both on and off the ice was very apparent throughout this process. I look forward to working closely with Cory to continue to move our program forward.”

Stillman played in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) for three seasons. He has won the Emms Family Trophy as OHL Rookie of the Year with the Windsor Spitfires in 1991 and won a J. Ross Robertson Cup with his hometown Peterborough Petes in 1993. Stillman amassed 271 points in 178 regular-season games and 26 points in 36 career playoff games during his OHL careern.

He was drafted sixth overall by the Calgary Flames in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft. Stillman registered 727 points in 1025 career NHL games with Flames, St. Louis Blues, Tampa Bay Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes, Ottawa Senators and Florida Panthers. Stillman won back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Lightning and Hurricanes in 2003-04 and 2005-06.

After his playing career in 2010-11, Stillman went on to work in Player Development for the NHL’s Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes before returning to the OHL as Head Coach of the Sudbury Wolves in 2017-18. He mentored the likes of Quinton Byfield, Jack Thompson, Chase Stillman, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Isaak Phillips. Stillman spent three seasons as the Wolves’ bench boss before joining the Arizona Coyotes as an assistant coach in 2020-21.

“I am excited to be named the next Head Coach of the Guelph Storm,” said Stillman. “Working with Scott and George, who are both proven winners, I truly believe we can create something special in Guelph. I am looking forward to the challenge ahead.”

His son Chase was drafted 29th overall by the New Jersey Deveils in 2021. Chase spent two seasons with the Peterborough Petes and won an OHL Championship in the 2022-23 season.

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