Ontario junior hockey club hires two-time champ as new head coach [Video]

The only coach to win back-to-back Memorial Cups with two different teams is taking the helm of junior hockey’s most historically successful franchise.

Mario Pouliot, who was coaxed out of semi-retirement to mentor rookie acting coach Brad Malone with eight games remaining in the regular season in early March, was named Thursday as the 37th head coach in franchise history.

Pouliot helped Malone and the Generals lift their second consecutive Bobby Orr Trophy as Eastern Conference champions before falling in five games in the Ontario Hockey League final to the London Knights, who would go on to win their third Memorial Cup.

Malone was originally hired as a development coach straight from a 14-year playing that included 207 games in the NHL and took over behind the bench 30 games into the season after Steve O’Rourke was surprisingly let go. He took a job as assistant coach with the Pittsburgh …