Growlers Hockey Operations Update

The Newfoundland Growlers, ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, are proud to announce two additions to the club’s hockey operations department ahead of the 2021-22 ECHL season: Assistant Coach Nathan McIver and Equipment Manager Nick Hornby. Additionally, Head Athletic Therapist Neill Davidson has re-signed with the club and will return for the 2021-22 campaign. 

McIver, 36, joins the Growlers following four seasons as an assistant coach in the Ontario Hockey League with the Oshawa Generals from 2016-17 to 2019-20.

Prior to joining the coaching ranks, the Summerside, Prince Edward Island native was a draft pick of the Vancouver Canucks in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft and appeared in 36 NHL games as a member of the Canucks and Anaheim Ducks from 2006-07 to 2008-09.

McIver spent most of his playing career in the American Hockey League, appearing in over 500 games for the Manitoba Moose, Providence Bruins, Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Hamilton Bulldogs, and Norfolk Admirals from 2005-06 to 2014-15.

The 6’2” defenceman finished his 11-year professional playing career overseas, playing one season for the Braehead Clan in the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL).

The Growlers’ new Equipment Manager, Nick Hornby, joins the club following a five-year stint as the Equipment Manager for the Ontario Hockey League’s Niagara IceDogs.

A Grimsby, Ontario native, Hornby possesses as a degree in Fitness and Health Promotions from Niagara College and prior to joining the IceDogs spent five seasons in the American Hockey League on the Toronto Marlies equipment staff starting in 2010-11.

Davidson, a Montreal, Quebec native, is set to return for his third full season as Head Athletic Therapist of the Growlers. A graduate of Concordia University’s Athletic Therapy program, Davidson served in the same role since the club’s inaugural season in 2018-19, including the Kelly Cup Finals.