EVERETT – The Everett Silvertips have decided if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
The Western Hockey League franchise on Friday opted not to replace departed general manager Doug Soetaert, instead choosing to spread Soetaert’s former duties among those already in the organization – namely head coach Kevin Constantine, director of marketing and sales Zoran Rajcic and head scout Scott Scoville.
“It’s not a model common to hockey, but we thought it fit our situation because these people got us where we are today,” Silvertips owner Bill Yuill said. “I think it’s going to work because they’re all focused and they’re all dedicated. We’ve seen what they’ve delivered in the past and there’s no reason to believe they can’t step it up a notch or two.”
Constantine remains the head coach and adds the title of director of hockey operations. Scoville will be the director of player personnel and Rajcic has been promoted to director of business operations.
What that means is that Constantine will have the final say on player decisions, including roster selections and trades; Scoville will concentrate his personal scouting attention more on the rest of the Western Hockey League and less on the Bantam leagues, as well as have added input in personnel decisions; and Rajcic takes over the primary responsibilities on the business side.
Rajcic will serve as the alternate governor at the WHL governors meetings, Constantine and Scoville will represent the team at the WHL general manager meetings.
“I’m excited about it,” Constantine said. “I think there are some big shoes to fill because Doug did such a good job. But it’s three of us, not just one, trying to fill Doug’s role.
“It’s an enormous responsibility and an enormous challenge, but I’m excited for the opportunity to keep the club going in the right direction.”
When Soetaert was named the president of the American Hockey League’s Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights and assistant general manager of the NHL’s Calgary Flames in May, the Silvertips general manager position became a hot commodity, especially with the NHL lockout still unresolved. Yuill said he had more than 20 quality applicants for the position.
But despite the quality of the applicant pool, Yuill thought it best to keep faith with the people who helped guide the Silvertips to their unprecedented success in their first two seasons of existence.
“There’s a wonderful chemistry within the front office and the organization,” Yuill said. “We didn’t want to shift that focus. These people have worked together for three years and they work well together. In my opinion, it’s as good a hockey organization as you’re going to find. To bring in someone from the outside and have them put their spin on it, that’s not what we wanted to happen. We’ve enjoyed some nice success the last couple years and these are the people who did it.”
When Soetaert announced his resignation, Constantine, Rajcic and Scoville pursued the added responsibility.
“When Bill met with Kevin and myself and Scott, we said we believed in each other and felt we could continue to do the job Doug was doing,” Rajcic said. “There was a little concern that someone else coming in and changing anything wouldn’t be in the best interest of any of us – someone new might want to erase Doug’s fingerprints. We felt we could continue the organization’s success without any changes.”
For Constantine, the added personnel responsibilities is nothing new. He had similar responsibilities in his previous stops in junior hockey in the United States Hockey League – 1985-86 with the North Iowa Huskies, 1987-88 with the Rochester Mustangs and 2001-03 with the Pittsburgh Forge.
“There’s a couple of reasons (why he sought the position),” Constantine said. “One, I’ve done some of this in the past with other junior programs, so it’s not a completely new concept. And two, I think it’s what the organization wanted. This has been such a great organization to work for, I’ve had a lot of fun the last two years and this was the direction they wanted to go.”
And the trio is relishing its chance to guide the Silvertips that much more.
“We’re excited about it,” Scoville said. “Change brings opportunity. Doug leaving was tough on everybody, but it brought us an opportunity and we’re all excited about the chance we’ve been given.”
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