As the Ontario Hockey League regular season gets underway this week, a pair of familiar faces to fans of the Soo Greyhounds will be returning to the league.
But not as players.
Former Hounds' forward Hayden Verbeek and defenceman Michael Quesnele are entering their first seasons as linesmen in the league.
Verbeek played 250 games with the Greyhounds between 2013 and 2018, scoring 59 goals and 136 points, including 30 goals and 61 points in 67 games during his final season with the club.
Verbeek, now 26, was selected in the fourth round of the 2013 OHL draft and was later signed by the NHL's Montreal Canadiens as a free agent in 2018.
Also a Sault native, Quesnele played in 294 career games with the Greyhounds between 2005 and 2010, scoring 36 goals and 164 points, including career highs of 13 goals, 41 assists and 54 points in 61 games during the 2009-10 season. Now 35, Quesnele was a fifth-round draft pick of the Greyhounds in the 2005 OHL draft.
The OHL officiating crew also features a number of others with ties to the area, including referees Brendan Kane and Jarrett Burton, who are both from the Sault area, and linesmen Alex Schmidt, Marcus Policicchio, Corey Jackson, and Joshua Houselander.