Mitch Love: ‘It’s going to be a unique evening’

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, October 24, 2018

When Mitch Love walks out to the rink Wednesday night and sees the Everett Silvertips logo and colors on the adjacent bench, he expects to feel a bit weird.

For the first time as a head coach in the Western Hockey League, Love will be facing his former team when Everett plays the Saskatoon Blades at the SaskTel Centre.

Love, who is in his first season as the Blades’ head coach, was a fan favorite as a Everett player from 2003-05 and served as an assistant coach for the team from 2011-2018.

“It’s going to be a unique evening,” Love said. “I’ll see some familiar faces over there in terms of coaching and player personnel and staff, but, you know, like I’ve told myself all week leading up to this games, it’s a hockey game (and) both teams are going to compete hard … and try and find two points in the standings.”

Love is off to a strong start with his new club. The Blades are 8-3-1-0 and in second place in the WHL’s East Division. He inherited a talented roster, headlined by center Kirby Dach, who is regarded as a potential first-round pick in the 2019 NHL draft.

Love said he’s been impressed with how quickly the players bought into his system.

“That’s not always an easy transition, adapting to us as a coaching staff as well as implementing the work that they put in learning new systems,” Love said. “To have a little bit of success early on is nice in terms of trying to sell some of those new things. They’ve done a really good job of coming to work and working everyday and it’s been a pleasure to come to the rink everyday and work with them.”

Love, who was an assistant with three different head coaches in Everett — Mark Ferner, Kevin Constantine and Dennis Williams — spent one season on Williams’ staff, a year he said has helped him greatly in his first year in Saskatoon.

“Dennis is a great, great person to work with,” Love said. “We had a great last season in Everett and I had a really good experience coaching and learning with him, along with other coaches, of course,” Love said. “You take bits and pieces and try and apply it to your craft and that’s exactly what I’ve tried to do in my first year in Saskatoon. And in terms of getting an opportunity to be a head coach in this league, you only go as far as your players, and I was really fortunate in my time in Everett to work with some really good players. I learned just as much from them as they learned from me. It’s great to see (Everett) have some early-season success.”

Tale of the tape

(Records and stats through Tuesday)