After a year and a half behind their bench, John Druce is stepping down as head coach of the Wellington Dukes.
Druce told Wellingtondukes.com that he was going to explore other opportunities in the hockey world.
The former Washington Capitals star certainly made an impact in the short time he was with Wellington. After taking over mid way through the 2017-18 season, Druce led the Dukes to the OJHL championship followed by the Dudley Hewitt Cup and the finals of the RBC Cup.
This year Wellington advanced to the league finals. He finished with a regular season record of 40-25-1-5.
Former assistant coach and player Derek Smith will take over as head coach in Wellington. The 34 year old Smith was co-captain of the Dukes in the 2003-04 season. He had a 10 year professional career which included 94 games in the NHL with Ottawa and Calgary.
