For five years, Dave Drinkill learned life lessons and how to build an Ontario Hockey League team from Dale Hawerchuk, the Hockey Hall of Famer and longtime Barrie Colts coach who died on Tuesday of stomach cancer at the age of 57.
In Barrie from 2010-15, Hawerchuk encouraged Drinkill to "climb the ladder" to assistant general manager from video coach and analyst as the Colts advanced to four straight Eastern Conference semifinals, including one OHL final in 2013.
Now after five years as GM of the Saginaw Spirit, the team posted the best playoff season in the franchise's 18-year history last year and were tied for the second-best record in the Western Conference before COVID-19 shut down the 2019-20 season.