The Nailers will not renew the contract of head coach Mike Bavis, the team announced on Monday.
“We would like to thank Mike for the work he did for our organization, and we wish him the best as he moves forward," said Nailers Governor Don Rigby. "We remain committed to putting a winning team on the ice, and believe it is in the best interest of the team to move in a different direction for the 2020-21 season."
Bavis was hired as head coach in August 2018 after his predecessor, Mark Dennehy, left as head coach only two months after being hired, taking a head coaching job with the Binghamton Devils in the AHL.
In Bavis' two seasons as head coach he led the Nailers to a 55-61-11-4 record. The Nailers finished with a 31-31-6-4 record in the 2018-19 season, finishing in last place in the six-team Central Division but only five points out of a playoff spot. The 2019-20 ECHL season was not completed, but the Nailers finished the season with a 24-30-5 record, again last in the division.
Bavis was unsuccessful in coaching the Nailers to a winning record, but players I spoke to throughout his tenure only ever had good things to say about Bavis as a person.
"Bavis is an awesome guy, just a really good guy," Cam Brown told me this season, his second year under Bavis. "Everyone loves him. He really cares about us, each guy individually, away from the rink too. That's pretty rare in this business, so that's really cool."
