John Gibson (b. 1970)

John Gibson (b. September 30, 1970 in Kingston, Ontario, Canada) was a minor league hockey defenceman. John played for the Huntsville Channel Cats in the SHL and CHL, the Topeka ScareCrows and the Fayetteville Force both also of the CHL. John was a member of the Huntsville Channel Cats championships in 1996, 1999 and as a coach in 2004. Gibson was also a two-time Central Hockey League All-Star in 1997-98 and 1998-99. He won the Hardest Slapshot Award at the All-Star Game in 1998 and was runner-up in 1999.

John’s number 23 was retired by the Huntsville Havoc on November 8, 2003. The number is also honored by the current Huntsville Havoc as no other player has been issued his number.

John's first coaching assignment was with the 2003-04 Huntsville Channel Cats in the SEHL. John led the Channel Cats to a 43-13 regular season record in 2003-04 and was named the South East Hockey League Coach of the Year. The Channel Cats went on and swept the Knoxville Ice Bears to claim the President’s Cup.

On March 24, 2008 Huntsville Havoc owner Keith Jeffries announced that the team would not renew the contract of Head Coach John Gibson for the 2008-09 season.

Jeffries said “During the four years John coached the Havoc he became much more than a coach, he became a friend,” Jeffries said. “As a result the decision announced today was hard…very hard. In fact, I can say that in three decades of business ownership, I’ve not made a more difficult personnel decision.”

John met with his team after the decision was made, said "I'm not going to say I wasn't surprised. But I can see it from Keith's point. We haven't taken a good run at this thing in the last few years. I know that's the ultimate goal as an owner to win championships."

"I want to thank Keith for the opportunity to coach the team and thank the great front office".

"I appreciate all the fans and the sponsors and hope they'll continue to support the team and players like they have in the past. I'll miss them all."

At that time John had not made a decision on whether to remain in hockey or not.

Gibson had put together a 113-98-9 record in four seasons as head coach of the Havoc. The team finished in sixth place in 2004-05, fifth in 2005-06, fourth in 2006-07 and failed to make the playoffs in 2007-08.