During my first 13 years of covering the Estevan Bruins (from 2000-01 to 2012-13), the club had eight different head coaches.
Granted, three of them held the role on the interim basis. But that still leaves five head coaches/general managers in 13 seasons. It wasn't a recipe for success.
During those 13 seasons, the Bruins won a division title and a best-of-seven series once – in 2004-05, when they might have won a national championship if not for injuries to arguably their two best players.
The instability changed when the club hired Chris Lewgood as the head coach and GM in 2013. He remained in the role until 2020. Lewgood had his detractors, but the year-to-year continuity he brought was significant. Then the club turned to Jason Tatarnic, who held the job from the spring of 2020 until the club and Tatarnic "parted ways" in January. That's two coaches in an 11 1/2-year span.
In a six-season run from 2016-17 to 2022-23 (the COVID-dashed 2020-21 season doesn't count) the Bruins won a league championship, reached the final in another season, won seven best-of-seven series and five division titles.
It's incredible how much stability at the top does for a junior hockey team, or for sports organizations in general.
After Tatarrnic's departure, the club announced Drew Kocur would finished the 2024-25 season as the team's interim head coach and GM. Last week, the team announced it was removing the interim tag from Kocur's title, and he would be at the helm going forward.
Skeptics will point to the win-loss record for why the Bruins should have looked in another direction. Estevan won six of 22 games after Kocur was hired, and they missed the playoffs for the first time since 2010. But take a deeper look, and you'll see the changes that happened.
They were a more entertaining and confident team. They scored 84 goals in those 22 games, or nearly four a game. The intensity and energy were up. Players like Carter Onrait and Rorey Elson flourished down the stretch. Ewan Rennie and Luke Hogan were terrific. There were issues in their own zone, but I don't think another coach would have changed them. And they had too big of a hole to emerge from to make the playoffs.
They'll miss their seven graduating players, and it's unlikely that forward Steven Sterenka and defenceman Corey Potter will be back from the Western Hockey League again next season, but there is some good returning talent, especially up front. Kocur will be busy in the next few months with trying to fill holes on the roster, whether it's through recruits or trades.
The need for a consistent presence in the head coach and general manager in junior hockey is more important than ever. When the NCAA announced last year that Canadian major junior hockey players would be eligible for scholarships, it changed the complexion of the sport. Previously, young players were faced with a tough decision: play in major junior hockey and forfeit NCAA eligibility, or take the junior A route and hope for a scholarship. Now they get the best of both worlds.
At the junior A level, players have options for where they want to play. They can stay in Saskatchewan. They can go to another province. They can take a shot at the B.C. Hockey League, which is still going to have more visibility with college scouts despite eligibility rule changes.
So it's important for the coach/GM to have that rapport with recruits. A player is more likely to come to a team if he feels comfortable with the person at the top. If the organization has had a rotating coach and/or GM, the player is less likely to come.
Look at the top teams in the SJHL in recent years. Trevor Blevins has been the head coach/GM of the Melfort Mustangs since the 2013-14 season. They have won four of the last nine SJHL championships. Mike Reagan joined the Flin Flon Bombers in 2007-08. The Battlefords North Stars enjoyed a lot of success with their stability.
I'm glad Kocur is getting a shot at 小蓝视频 a head coach and GM at this level. He's been in Estevan for two seasons. He knows the community and the team's sponsors. He has an understanding of the rigours of 小蓝视频 in the position and the pressures of 小蓝视频 in a community where the junior A team is a big deal.
Some might want to see someone with more experience, but everyone needs an opportunity at some point. This is Kocur's chance.
He's going to be eager to make the team's players and fans happy and justify the executive's trust. Now it's time for him to prove he can do the job, so that the Bruins don't have to go looking for a new coach and GM for several more years.
