It will be strange for the first head coach of the Okotoks Oilers to root against the Junior A team at the Pason Centennial Centre this weekend.
Indeed that is what will happen when Garry VanHereweghe watches the Lloydminster Bobcats play the Oilers Oct. 13. VanHereweghe took the role of the Bobcats’ director of player personnel before the start of the 2012-13 Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) season — two years after he suddenly resigned from his second stint as the Oilers head coach.
He admitted he just got the itch to be back involved in high level of hockey.
“I had been out of that level for two years and I have my evenings available and I want to get back in the rinks and help the kids as much as possible,” VanHereweghe said.
His duties include recruiting players, working trades alongside Bobcats coach and general manager Ryan Parent and helping the players land scholarships after their AJHL careers. Parent is the director of hockey operations as well as the coach. It’s a heavy load for any coach, let alone one who is in his first year in the AJHL.
He’s glad to have VanHereweghe’s ear.
“Garry’s been around the game for a long-time and we have some similar and some different thoughts on players or deals we are going to make,” Parent said. “It is nice to have a good, clean look on things — a second opinion if you will.”
While it might seen weird for the Bobcats to have their director of player personnel living a six-hour drive away from the Border City, Parent doesn’t see it that way.
“I think it helps,” Parent said. “When we have a guy like Garry down south, he gets to see the players play and give us a presence in the south. We already have a presence in the north… Garry has a lot of input into our program regardless of where the player comes from. He provides sober second thought for us.”
VanHereweghe wasn’t about to pack his pack to leave Okotoks for Lloydminster.
“I love Okotoks, it’s a tremendous community and a tremendous hockey team as well,” VanHereweghe said. “I see Lloydminster (Bobcats) having some of the same benefits the Oilers did. The Oilers have a great program.”
It will be strange for the first head coach of the Okotoks Oilers to root against the Junior A team at the Pason Centennial Centre this weekend.
Indeed that is what will happen when Garry VanHereweghe watches the Lloydminster Bobcats play the Oilers Oct. 13. VanHereweghe took the role of the Bobcats’ director of player personnel before the start of the 2012-13 Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) season — two years after he suddenly resigned from his second stint as the Oilers head coach.
He admitted he just got the itch to be back involved in high level of hockey.
“I had been out of that level for two years and I have my evenings available and I want to get back in the rinks and help the kids as much as possible,” VanHereweghe said.
His duties include recruiting players, working trades alongside Bobcats coach and general manager Ryan Parent and helping the players land scholarships after their AJHL careers. Parent is the director of hockey operations as well as the coach. It’s a heavy load for any coach, let alone one who is in his first year in the AJHL.
He’s glad to have VanHereweghe’s ear.
“Garry’s been around the game for a long-time and we have some similar and some different thoughts on players or deals we are going to make,” Parent said. “It is nice to have a good, clean look on things — a second opinion if you will.”
While it might seen weird for the Bobcats to have their director of player personnel living a six-hour drive away from the Border City, Parent doesn’t see it that way.
“I think it helps,” Parent said. “When we have a guy like Garry down south, he gets to see the players play and give us a presence in the south. We already have a presence in the north… Garry has a lot of input into our program regardless of where the player comes from. He provides sober second thought for us.”
VanHereweghe wasn’t about to pack his pack to leave Okotoks for Lloydminster.
“I love Okotoks, it’s a tremendous community and a tremendous hockey team as well,” VanHereweghe said. “I see Lloydminster (Bobcats) having some of the same benefits the Oilers did. The Oilers have a great program.”
VanHereweghe coached the Oilers in their first two seasons, 2005-06 and 2006-07, leading the Junior A team the Alberta Junior Hockey League semifinals in its second season. He returned to coach the club early in the 2009-10 season and after a slow start, the Oilers once again made it to the league semifinals.
However, VanHereweghe stunned the Okotoks hockey community when he stepped down shortly after the pre-season the following season.
“It wasn’t because I was tired or that I didn’t want to work with the kids,” VanHereweghe said. “But for some reason on that certain team and primarily the older players, I think we were on different pages for whatever reason.
“If the players don’t have a 100 per cent trust and faith in you, I made the decision to just move on. It was more of a difference in philosophy with the players.”
He said the Oilers have had a strong history and will continue to be successful under the helm of James Poole, who followed VanHereweghe as head coach and general manager.
The Bobcats have a way to go to get the Oilers’ level. They won their first two games of the season on the weekend and have a 2-8-1 record. They are in the cellar of the Northern Division of the AJHL as of Oct. 8.
“When Ryan (Parent) inherited the team, he walked into a situation where the cupboard was fairly bare,” VanHereweghe said. “Stocking it in one year is pretty hard to do. Our focus is to be as competitive as we can this year, but to make sure from this year moving forward we do have depth and good young talent.
“We certainly aren’t going to throw the towel in this year. We have guys who are working hard and we are moving forward.”
VanHereweghe will be back at the Pason Centennial Arena on Saturday night when the Bobcats and Oilers drop the puck at 7 p.m.
