Wednesday, August 5
The T-Birds announced some big news yesterday. After a lot of speculating, on blogs and message boards, the T-Birds announced the addition of John Becanic to the team’s coaching staff. The Thunderbirds got a lot of mileage out of one simple, early August press release didn’t they? In these parts it’s hard to get publicity for the club this time of year, what with the Mariners going full bore, training camp having just opened for the Seahawks and Husky football just around the corner, but the T-Birds managed to get significant coverage on NWCN (not to mention all the internet activity) during the dog days of summer when hockey is the furthest from most minds in this part of the world.
I find it absolutely impossible to look at this move in anything but a positive light. Was it the “blockbuster” announcement many were expecting after reading the promotional press release? I guess not, but it was sure fun to read all the rumors and innuendo. Let’s look at what this news really is though. The T-Birds have just added someone with a wealth of hockey knowledge to their staff; included in that are the last six years as a head coach or assistant coach right here in the WHL. Yes, in his two years as head coach of the Everett Silvertips Becanic only put together a .500 record but remember just two seasons ago he had the ‘Tips nine games over .500. at 39-30-0-3 Let’s be honest, the Silvertips of the past two years were not their most talented clubs; certainly nothing like the teams of the three seasons previous to his head coaching tenure. Last season they were a very young club, and also dealt with injuries and a major trade of talent, but Becanic still got them into the playoffs. Every coach, after a losing season, will agree they deserve some of the blame and I’m sure Becanic would say the same of himself when it comes to the 2008-09 season with Everett, but let’s not dismiss the rest of his coaching track record, both as a ’Tips assistant and as head coach at previous stops.
Remember too, the T-Birds have hired him to be an assistant, not the head coach. Becanic is not replacing anyone. He’s being added to the coaching staff of Rob Sumner, Turner Stevenson, Jim McTaggart and Paul Fricker. As I walked by coach Sumner’s office early Wednesday he and Becanic were already busy at work…between swapping hockey stories, of course. This is a move that says this organization wants to win because to win you have to hire good hockey people and that’s what the organization did by bringing Becanic on board.
Finally, it’s only speculation on my part but this move may also be another effect of the team now playing in the ShoWare Center. Could they have afforded such a move if they were still at KeyArena? Maybe, maybe not, but it’s just so much easier to make these kinds of hires when you have a favorable lease and an operating budget that is a positive rather than a negative.
