Toronto, Ont. – The Ontario Hockey League today announced that Mark Hunter of the London Knights is the 2022-23 recipient of the Jim Gregory OHL General Manager of the Year Award.
The Knights overcame the tragic loss of friend and teammate Abakar Kazbekov in December of this past season, skating to a fourth consecutive Midwest Division title with a record of 45-21-2-0, surrendering a Western Conference-low 214 goals-against. The Knights would go on to win the Wayne Gretzky Trophy as Western Conference champions, doing so for the seventh time in franchise history.
Hunter was selected as winner of the annual honour after he and runner-up Adam Dennis of the North Bay Battalion finished as front-runners in voting by OHL General Managers. The final winner was decided upon by a committee consisting of media representatives from a market in each of the OHL’s four divisions, a representative from NHL Central Scouting, as well as a representative from the Ontario Hockey League.
“I’m very honoured to receive this award in the name of the late Jim Gregory. He was so highly respected in our great game of hockey and set a high standard of leadership. It’s a very proud moment for the London Knights organization,” said Hunter.
“This is first and foremost a team award, and I’d like to take the opportunity to recognize everyone in the Knights community who came together during a very challenging season. Losing Abakar was tremendously difficult for all of us, and the players, their families, our staff and billet families all had a part in helping us persevere as an organization. We will always remember Abakar.”
The Knights were powered by a number of talents drafted and developed within the organization including overage netminder Brett Brochu, 6-foot-3 defenceman Logan Mailloux and third-year co-captain Sean McGurn. A trio of 2021 OHL Priority Selection choices in draft-eligible talents Denver Barkey, Easton Cowan and Oliver Bonk also played prominent roles in helping the Knights continue their run of consistency while Zach Bowen won the F.W. “Dinty” Moore Trophy for the lowest goals-against average by a rookie goaltender at 3.10. In addition to seeing the emergence of 16-year-old blueliner Sam Dickinson, Hunter would add experienced veterans in former OHL champions George Diaco, Ryan Winterton and Ryan Humphrey in trades with the Hamilton Bulldogs over the course of the season.
The Knights led the OHL with a total of 18 shorthanded goals, with McGurn and San Jose Sharks prospect Max McCue scoring four apiece. On the blue line, Mailloux, who was London’s second round (33rd overall) pick in the 2019 OHL Priority Selection and a first round (31st overall) pick of the Montreal Canadiens in 2021, led the OHL in goals by a defenceman with 25.
“On behalf of my mother, Rosalie and entire Gregory family we wanted to express how thrilled we are to have Mark Hunter as this year‘s winner of the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award,” said David Gregory, son of Jim Gregory and Director of Scouting Services with the National Hockey League. “Mark is a man that my father respected greatly. His life in hockey speaks for itself. After another great season on the ice and his leadership fighting through the adversity his team experienced, Mark is a most worthy winner. Congratulations Mark and all the best on and off the ice.”
A native of Oil Springs, Ont., Hunter, along with older brother and Head Coach Dale Hunter, has owned the Knights since the beginning of the 2000-01 season. He’s overseen the club’s Hockey Operations throughout that span, save and except for a four-year window as Director of Player Personnel and Assistant General Manager for the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs from 2014-18. Throughout his ownership tenure in London, the Knights have won a pair of Memorial Cup titles (2005, 2016), four OHL Championships (2005, 2012, 2013, 2016), six Western Conference titles (2005, 2006, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2023) and 12 different Midwest Division banners (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007. 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023). Hunter has also coached parts of six seasons in the OHL, including five with the Sarnia Sting from 1994-96 and 1997-2000 and one championship season in London (2011-12) when brother Dale took a position as Head Coach of the NHL’s Washington Capitals. He also served as Head Coach of the AHL’s St. John’s Maple Leafs in 1996-97.
On the ice, Hunter played a 628-game NHL career from 1981-93, winning a Stanley Cup title as a member of the 1989 Calgary Flames. Hunter also competed in the 1986 NHL All-Star Game in the midst of a career-best season with the St. Louis Blues. Originally the seventh overall pick of the 1981 NHL Draft by the Montreal Canadiens, Hunter played his junior hockey with the OHA’s Brantford Alexanders from 1979-81, entering the league as the first overall pick of the 1979 Priority Selection.
First announced in August 2019, the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award is presented annually to the General Manager who best excelled in his role during the regular season. The award honours the memory of one of the game’s great builders in former long-time NHL executive Jim Gregory who passed away in October 2019 at the age of 83.
Hunter follows previous award winners in Steve Staios of the Hamilton Bulldogs in 2022 and James Boyd of the Ottawa 67’s in 2020. He’ll be formally presented with the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award at the OHL’s Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, June 14 at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.
For a complete list of award winners, click here.
