Dan Rose will be back behind the bench for the Sarnia Legionnaires next winter.

Team president Tom Knight made the announcement Thursday at the Jr. 'B' hockey club's annual awards banquet.

Rose vowed to ice a strong squad.

"We will compete for the championship next year,” he said. The veteran head coach added there are only two or three Jr. 'B' franchises in Ontario for which it's an honour to be the bench boss, and the Legionnaires are one of them.

Rose said 80 or 90 players will attend the club's mini-camp this weekend.

"We're really excited,” he said. “We're looking forward to building on what we finished (last season).”

Knight was also optimistic about the future, noting all but two players are eligible to return from last year's club.

Along with Theo Bet, the team's vice-president of marketing, Knight pointed out the Legionnaires have exceptionally strong community support.

In fact, there were 170 people on hand for the banquet.

"No other team in Jr. 'B' hockey can come close to that kind of support” from volunteers, Knight said.

Bet pointed out the club drew 35,000 fans to its games last season, marking the third year in a row that the Legionnaires have led the entire province in attendance.