Bond hired as new Metro head coach

The Metro Jets are proud to announce the hiring of Jeff Bond as the team's new head coach.

Bond, 51, takes over for Jamie Hayden, who was the Jets' head coach the past five seasons. Hayden will remain with the team as associate coach.

Peter Flynn has been hired as a new assistant coach and replaces Ryan Skop, who left the Jets at the end of this past season to pursue other coaching opportunities.

"The Metro Jets are altering our course a bit in 2010-2011," said Metro GM Butch Wolfe. "I believe Jeff Bond has the knowledge and the assets to get this organization back on the winning side of things. He will be ably assisted by Jamie and Pete, both of whom have a great deal of hockey knowledge. I believe we have a great team assembled here.”

No stranger to the Central States Hockey League, Bond was the head coach of the Motor City Chiefs the past two years (and an assistant coach in 2007-2008), while Flynn was an assistant coach with the Chiefs.

Bond, who played collegiate hockey at Western Michigan University during the 1978-1979 season, has nearly 30 years of coaching experience with the majority of it coming at the AAA youth level in Michigan with Compuware, Little Caesars and the Michigan Nationals. He has also been an assistant coach in the Michigan high school ranks with Howell and Brother Rice, as well as a coach with the Michigan Development Hockey League.

In the scouting realm, Bond has been a scout for the Traverse City North Stars of the North American Hockey League and also for Lindenwood University in the St. Louis area.

Bond and his wife, Laurie, reside in Northville and have two children, Ryan, 23, a forward/defenseman who played for Traverse City and Lindenwood before joining the All American Hockey League’s Battle Creek Revolution this season, and Angie, 21, who is attending Central Michigan University.

"I'm certainly excited to be a part of the Jets' organization," said Bond. "The franchise has a storied history, but has hit a rough patch in recent years. My goal is to get this team back to its winning ways this season and I'm hopeful we can do that starting with finding some impact players in the league draft next month."

The Jets will hold a pre-CSHL draft camp May 15-16 at Lakeland Arena. More details, including times and costs, can be found at the Jets website.

The CSHL draft is scheduled for Saturday, May 29 in Chicago.