Final Update: see the unhiring of Imoo here:

Toronto Marlies reverse themselves on Dusty Imoo hiring

UPDATE: As covered by some of the links in comments to this article Imoo has a long list of insurrectionist and conspiracy theorist Tweets he has favourited. The topics covered range from anti-Democrat or Biden disinformation, anti-vaccine statements, support for the Jan 6, insurrection on Capitol Hill, transphobic hate speech and many other things of a nasty nature.

Consider all links to this material to come with a content warning.

The original post as written appears below:

Jon Elkin, now the former goalie coach for the Toronto Marlies, was a familiar face when he was hired in 2018, having spent a year with the Soo Greyhounds before he joined the Coyotes for a few years. His promotion keeps him in the organization and opens up space for a new voice for the AHL goalies.

Dusty Imoo is also a very familiar face to at least one of the NHL netminders in the Leafs organization, and gets a Soo connection by proxy:

“It’s been an amazing thing to watch for me and I’m sure for everybody that has some kind of connection with him, but it’s not surprising to me,” Imoo said of Campbell’s play this season. “I think a lot of people can’t believe it. But for me, I’m just really happy, more than surprised or anything. I’ve always believed in Soupy. But, I think that even for me, I’m even more impressed and proud of him because he’s done this in that market in Toronto, probably the most difficult in the [hockey] world as far as dealing with the pressures and criticisms and whatnot.”

“He has really taken a lot of the things that we worked on mentally as far as being happy with himself and all the stuff that has been happening, good and bad,” Imoo noted of Campbell. “He’s rolling with it a lot better now. So, as far as his resurgence is concerned, I couldn’t be happier but I’m certainly not surprised. I hope they just support him. I’m not talking just the [Maple Leafs] staff but the [Toronto] media, and just get on board with him and just support him.”

While he is thrilled for his former protege, Imoo couldn’t help but marvel at Campbell’s resilience, which was a significant factor in the netminder’s turnaround in southern California.

Imoo, born in BC, played some league hockey in Japan and went on to represent that country in the Olympics and in several World Championships. He also counts as a goalie of record in one game for the Ontario Reign, AHL affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings, when he had to suit up as an emergency replacement backup while his son Jonah was in net for the Reign in his first pro start. That was all down to Jack Campbell’s callup to the Kings.

In 2019, Imoo left the Kings after four years to take a job with Kunlun Red Star of the KHL. KRS played in Beijing that year, but have been located in Russia since then due to the pandemic, and the restrictions on the border between Russia and China. Imoo did not stay with the team, one renowned for changing coaching staff more often than the calendar turns over, but instead was without a team during the 2020-2021 season.

Prior to his stint with the Kings, he was goalie coach for the St. John’s IceCaps, while they were the affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets. He coached a lot of goalies there including Connor Hellebuyck, Eric Comrie, and Michael Hutchinson.

Imoo will be coaching Hutchinson again this year, as well as Joe Woll, Erik Källgren and possibly Ian Scott.

Toronto Marlies