nivek_wahs
04-12-2007, 04:58 AM
http://www.lethbridgeherald.com/article_6477.php
Stasiuk takes stock of season
By Trevor Kenney
Apr 4, 2007, 17:20
With all due respect to myself, the last thing Lethbridge Hurricanes general manager Roy Stasiuk wanted to be doing this week was talking with me.
That means his team is not in the Western Hockey League playoffs and is instead dissecting its shortcomings and already preparing for next year. Stasiuk’s plate is still full though, what with the WHL bantam draft just a month away, a new radio deal to sign, another Enmax Centre lease to extend and then a European draft that will hopefully bring two new bodies overseas.
But before we get to all that, the big questions are what did the ’Canes learn from last season, do they feel the heat after missing the playoffs and is this the management team that will help this club get to the next level down the road.
“I won’t call our season a failure but certainly a disappointment and an empty feeling,” Stasiuk said when asked if the season was a success because of the increased win total, or a failure because of a missed playoff appearance.
“Seventy-one points still puts us below .500 and we know we have to be better.”
Especially in the Central Division, the only division where improving from the year before netted the ’Canes a drop in the standings. Stasiuk said he’ll take the criticism but he puts it in context, confident that the club is moving forward, both on the ice and maybe more importantly, off, where a definable culture is being created.
“We’ve gotten a lot of good comments and feedback form individuals that see what we’re trying to do here and they see some progress,” Stasiuk said. “At the same time, you’re right, I deserve some criticism. We did not make the playoffs and at the same time I have a tough enough skin and I have enough resolve to believe that we are going in the right direction.”
There have been hints that Stasiuk and his coaching staff clashed throughout the season and he was asked point-blank if the relationship between himself and coaches Michael Dyck, Matt Kabayama and Jeff Battah was fractured.
“There’s times . . . it’s an industry where there’s a lot of passion and a lot of people care. Did we have our arguments and disagreements, you bet, and I don’t think that’s unusual for any hockey team in any league,” he said. “It’s a matter of learning to work with each other and learning each other’s strengths and weaknesses and so on.
“I think (head coach Michael Dyck) did a great job, I think he was very well prepared. I think there were times where maybe he got into situations where he second-guessed himself and all I would do would be to encourage him not to do those things because he’s very well prepared, he knows the game and it’s just a matter of gaining experience.”
Dyck just completed his first full season behind the Hurricane bench and Stasiuk believes he needs time to develop into the role, just as Ryan McGill and Cory Clouston, rookie coaches he watched, did in Kootenay.
“The biggest thing is time, patience and experience and as far as our staff, I think I’m pretty happy with their performance,” he said. “And I do push, there’s no doubt about it, but I push because I believe in them and I believe we can do a very good job.”
Critics have been trying to fire either Stasiuk, Dyck or both ever since the season ended and given the fact the club did miss the post-season, that’s understandable. Thankfully this board of directors is smart enough to let things run their course and see if the building blocks that Stasiuk, Dyck and company are putting in place will amount to anything.
It is frustrating that this team missed the playoffs because it was good enough to be there, even in a tough Central Division. Still, the biggest thing is it got better, it’s younger players improved dramatically and the culture of Hurricane hockey took an upswing.
We all want results and not having made it out of the first round of the playoffs in 10 full years is disheartening but this management group can only be judged on the past 18 months when it has been in charge, not the eight-and-a-half years that preceded. This organization has been wrought with turmoil and upheaval for too long and it only takes a cursory glance around the league to recognize that the most successful franchises are those with consistency and stability.
That being said, the clock starts ticking on this team next fall when the planning, the shaping and the building has to start reaping tangible results.
See Thursday’s Herald for the second part of my interview with ’Canes GM Roy Stasiuk and what needs to be done over the summer months.
© Copyright by Lethbridge Herald.com
Stasiuk takes stock of season
By Trevor Kenney
Apr 4, 2007, 17:20
With all due respect to myself, the last thing Lethbridge Hurricanes general manager Roy Stasiuk wanted to be doing this week was talking with me.
That means his team is not in the Western Hockey League playoffs and is instead dissecting its shortcomings and already preparing for next year. Stasiuk’s plate is still full though, what with the WHL bantam draft just a month away, a new radio deal to sign, another Enmax Centre lease to extend and then a European draft that will hopefully bring two new bodies overseas.
But before we get to all that, the big questions are what did the ’Canes learn from last season, do they feel the heat after missing the playoffs and is this the management team that will help this club get to the next level down the road.
“I won’t call our season a failure but certainly a disappointment and an empty feeling,” Stasiuk said when asked if the season was a success because of the increased win total, or a failure because of a missed playoff appearance.
“Seventy-one points still puts us below .500 and we know we have to be better.”
Especially in the Central Division, the only division where improving from the year before netted the ’Canes a drop in the standings. Stasiuk said he’ll take the criticism but he puts it in context, confident that the club is moving forward, both on the ice and maybe more importantly, off, where a definable culture is being created.
“We’ve gotten a lot of good comments and feedback form individuals that see what we’re trying to do here and they see some progress,” Stasiuk said. “At the same time, you’re right, I deserve some criticism. We did not make the playoffs and at the same time I have a tough enough skin and I have enough resolve to believe that we are going in the right direction.”
There have been hints that Stasiuk and his coaching staff clashed throughout the season and he was asked point-blank if the relationship between himself and coaches Michael Dyck, Matt Kabayama and Jeff Battah was fractured.
“There’s times . . . it’s an industry where there’s a lot of passion and a lot of people care. Did we have our arguments and disagreements, you bet, and I don’t think that’s unusual for any hockey team in any league,” he said. “It’s a matter of learning to work with each other and learning each other’s strengths and weaknesses and so on.
“I think (head coach Michael Dyck) did a great job, I think he was very well prepared. I think there were times where maybe he got into situations where he second-guessed himself and all I would do would be to encourage him not to do those things because he’s very well prepared, he knows the game and it’s just a matter of gaining experience.”
Dyck just completed his first full season behind the Hurricane bench and Stasiuk believes he needs time to develop into the role, just as Ryan McGill and Cory Clouston, rookie coaches he watched, did in Kootenay.
“The biggest thing is time, patience and experience and as far as our staff, I think I’m pretty happy with their performance,” he said. “And I do push, there’s no doubt about it, but I push because I believe in them and I believe we can do a very good job.”
Critics have been trying to fire either Stasiuk, Dyck or both ever since the season ended and given the fact the club did miss the post-season, that’s understandable. Thankfully this board of directors is smart enough to let things run their course and see if the building blocks that Stasiuk, Dyck and company are putting in place will amount to anything.
It is frustrating that this team missed the playoffs because it was good enough to be there, even in a tough Central Division. Still, the biggest thing is it got better, it’s younger players improved dramatically and the culture of Hurricane hockey took an upswing.
We all want results and not having made it out of the first round of the playoffs in 10 full years is disheartening but this management group can only be judged on the past 18 months when it has been in charge, not the eight-and-a-half years that preceded. This organization has been wrought with turmoil and upheaval for too long and it only takes a cursory glance around the league to recognize that the most successful franchises are those with consistency and stability.
That being said, the clock starts ticking on this team next fall when the planning, the shaping and the building has to start reaping tangible results.
See Thursday’s Herald for the second part of my interview with ’Canes GM Roy Stasiuk and what needs to be done over the summer months.
© Copyright by Lethbridge Herald.com