Former Rangers goalie DeKort joins coaching staff

Ex-Kitchener Rangers goalie Jordan DeKort is back at the Aud.

The retired netminder, who played for the Blueshirts for the bulk of the 2013-14 season, was hired as the Ontario Hockey League club’s new goalie coach Friday.

He was one of three additions to the front office as the Rangers also added Hendrix Hanes as their new video coach and Olivia Terenzio as hockey operations and analytics co-ordinator.

“I’m really excited,” said DeKort, who also played for the Windsor Spitfires and Barrie Colts during his four-year OHL career. “When I played, Kitchener was my favourite spot, so I’m really happy to be back with the organization.”

The truth is the 26-year-old Markham native has been around for a while in the background.

Last year, DeKort and alumnus Ben Fanelli were appointed to the team’s mentorship program, which connects current players with former players, in case they want to chat about the ups and downs of playing junior hockey.

DeKort has also worked with former Rangers goalie coach Kain Tisi — whom he’s replacing — at his camps, while also developing his own stable of minor hockey clients on the side.

“There was good synergy between us,” said DeKort, who applied for the job when Tisi left for a promotion as a development goalie coach with the National Hockey League’s Pittsburgh Penguins earlier this month. “They’re familiar with me and I’m familiar with them so they kind of know what I’m all about.”

DeKort was a second-round pick by the Spitfires in 2011 and came to the Rangers two years later in a deal for a sixth-round selection. He went 9-13-2-1 in his lone season with Kitchener.

“I’ve been kind of learning under him (Tisi) and helping him with his camps,” DeKort said. “We talk all the time. He has taught me a lot in the last two years and I think I have gotten a lot better as a goalie coach because of that.”

DeKort starts immediately and will work with Kitchener’s netminder duo of Pavel Cajan and Jackson Parsons.

“I think they are two goalies with a lot of potential and will be really good in this league,” he said. “It’s all about keeping the game simple and making sure we get into the right position and trap the puck well.”

Hanes, from Milton, has worked in Kitchener’s analytics department and will take over Tisi’s other former duty as video coach. Terenzio has also helped out in analytics in the past but now has a firmer role.

“We found there are people we’ve used that have been good so we’re trying to use them more and expand their roles,” said Rangers head coach and GM Mike McKenzie. “We want a lot of capable people from different backgrounds and areas, not just hockey people. I think we can integrate a lot of smart people into hockey to make our organization better.”