There’s little more than a month remaining before WHL teams open their training camps for the 2007-08 season, yet a flurry of recent developments still leaves three teams scrambling to fill voids behind their benches.
The big news today was that Everett’s U.S. Division rival, the Portland Winter Hawks, are not renewing the contract of head coach Mike Williamson. Despite being just 34 years old, Williamson had been the longest-tenured coach in the league, guiding the Winter Hawks for seven seasons. He posted a 219-248-64 record in those seven seasons.
Clearly new Winter Hawks ownership was not satisfied with last season’s performance, in which the Winter Hawks were a league-worst 17-52-1-2. However, given Portland’s complete lack of experience and talent on the roster, the situation was hopeless — I doubt Kevin Constantine could have done much with that group.
Prior to that Williamson had a winning record, making the playoffs in each of his first six seasons. His Winter Hawks reached the WHL finals his first year, but won just one other playoff series in that span.
I’m probably not the best person to judge Williamson’s coaching acumen. I’d say his 2004-05 team performed below expectations after being touted as a preseason championship contender, but otherwise his teams competed well until last season, when he was given nothing to work with. What I can say is Williamson always dealt very respectfully with me as a member of the press from a rival team’s town. I always appreciate it when a visiting coach is willing to address me by my name.
So now Portland has a short period in which to name a successor. But as rough as the Winter Hawks may have it, it’s not nearly the pickle the Kootenay Ice find themselves in.
Just yesterday it was officially announced that Cory Clouston, the reigning WHL Coach of the Year, was leaving Kootenay to take the head post for the AHL’s Binghamton Senators.
That’s nearly the exact same scenario the Silvertips faced when Constantine left for the AHL’s Houston Aeros — a veteran, respected and highly successful coach moving on to the professional ranks. However, Constantine’s announcement came early in the offseason, Clouston’s comes substantially later, giving the Ice less time to react.
But the bigger issue for the Ice is they no longer have their John Becanic. As Everett’s associate head coach, Becanic was ready to step right into Constantine’s shoes. Kootenay had its Becanic in the form of five-year assistant Brad Lauer. However, just a week earlier Lauer resigned to take the general manager and head coach position for the BCHL’s Alberni Valley Bulldogs. How’s that for timing?
Anyway, this will be a critical juncture for the Ice. Located in one of the league’s smallest markets in Cranbook (population approx. 18,000 with few surrounding communities to draw upon), Kootenay is one of the first teams mentioned whenever a new market opens up for a potential franchise move. The Ice will want to find a coach who can continue Kootenay’s recent history of success to sustain its fan base.
The other team still seeking a head coach is Kelowna, which still hasn’t replaced the departed Jeff Truitt, who left to become an assistant coach for the AHL’s Springfield Falcons. The Rockets also have a coach-in-waiting in assistant Ryan Huska. However with Marc Habscheid, who coached the Rockets to the 2004 Memorial Cup championship, on the market again after being fired from his assistant job with the NHL’s Boston Bruins …
Oh, and I nearly forgot. Perhaps the league’s highest-profile coach, Red Deer’s Brent Sutter, is also gone. Sutter, who guided the Rebels to the Memorial Cup title in 2001 and also led Canada to two gold medals at the World Juniors, stepped down to become the head coach of the NHL’s New Jersey Devils. In true Sutter family tradition, his brother Brian is taking over in Red Deer.
Wow, that’s a lot of turnover in one season. And with Constantine, Sutter and Clouston now gone, that’s a serious drain of coaching talent. But the opportunity is now available for others to step into the spotlight and become the league’s high-profile guys. Can Becanic be one of them?
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