Here is the obit:




Obit from Tuesday's Kamloops Daily News
By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Bill LaForge wanted nothing more than to be back in hockey. Which is why in recent times Dean Clark had been speaking with LaForge on an almost daily basis.
³He was doing some bird-dogging for us,² Clark, the general manager of the WHLıs Kamloops Blazers, said Monday. ³He wanted to get back involved and I was trying to find stuff for him. I just talked to him on Friday.² LaForge, who coached the Kamloops Junior Oilers for two seasons, died on Sunday, around 5:30 a.m., at his Edmonton home. LaForge, who would have turned 54 on Sept. 2, died of an apparent heart attack. He had been in poor health for a number of years and recently spent three weeks in an Edmonton hospital.
LaForge, a cousin to Patrick LaForge, the president of the NHLıs Edmonton Oilers, is survived by his wife Penny and four adult children.
In his first season as a WHL coach, LaForge, a native of Edmonton, guided the high-scoring and brawling Regina Pats to a 48-24-0 record, good for second place overall behind the Lethbridge Broncos (50-22-0). The Pats lost the WHL championship final to the Portland Winter Hawks in five games.
Bob Strumm, then the Patsı general manager, was responsible for bringing LaForge into the WHL. When LaForge signed with the Pats on May 20, 1981, he was under suspension by the OHL until Jan. 1, 1982. LaForge, then coaching the Oshawa Generals, had become involved in an altercation with Peterborough Petes head coach Dave Dryden and left-winger Doug Evans during a pregame warmup.
In his season with the Pats, LaForge was suspended three times.
³Bill was a special person and a special friend, with a special heart and a special spirit,² said Strumm, now a pro scout for the NHLıs Columbus Blue Jackets.
By the time another season arrived, LaForge had been hired to coach the Junior Oilers, who were about to start their second winter in Kamloops.
³You learned a lot of things about being a team,² said Clark, who was with the Junior Oilers during both of LaForgeıs seasons. ³He really found a way for us to be together Š we did a lot through fighting more than anything else.
³There were a lot of things he did that I would never do. But I took a general theme away from him.² That theme had to do with playing as a team ‹ ³Thatıs what he always said:
Play for the name on the front, not the name on the back,² Clark said ‹ and helped Clark become one of the WHLıs most successful coaches.
LaForge also talked a lot about a PhD in hockey ‹ pride, hustle and desire.
It was something that worked well in junior hockey, but failed in the NHL.
The Junior Oilers went 46-26-0 and 50-22-0 under LaForge, losing a first-round seven-game series to the Victoria Cougars the first season, then beating the Pats in the league final and reaching the Memorial Cup in the second season.
In Kamloopsı first trip to the Memorial Cup, in Kitchener, it went 1-2 in the round-robin and then dropped a 7-2 semifinal decision to the eventual-champion Ottawa 67ıs.
During the following summer, LaForge, then 33, signed on as head coach of the NHLıs Vancouver Canucks. His career as an NHL head coach lasted only 20 games. He was fired with a 4-14-2 record, the shortest coaching stint in Canucksı history.
³He looked like a guy who was going to be a successful coach,² Harry Neale, then the Canucksı general manager, told the Vancouver Sunıs Elliott Pap.
³Billıs passion for the game was obvious and his success in junior hockey was obvious, but the NHL just wasnıt his cup of tea. That became fairly obvious fairly quickly and it was too bad. I thought he had a chance.² LaForge went on to coach the OHLıs Niagara Falls Thunder. After being fired there 20 games into the 1989-90 season, Tri-City Americansı owner Ron Dixon hired him as director of player personnel for his WHL team.
LaForge joined the Americans over the Christmas break but, upset with some of his ways, the players staged a mutiny, saying they wouldnıt play as long as he was involved. Dixon eventually reassigned LaForge to scouting.
LaForgeıs last coaching job was with the AJHLıs Bonnyville Pontiacs in 1993-94.
³He cared about his people,ıı Al Tuer, who played for LaForge in Regina and now scouts for the NHLıs Calgary Flames, told the Regina Leader-Postıs Rob Vanstone. ³People donıt know that. If he thought you were a good person, heıd do anything for you. He loved you. He did. No doubt about it. This is a sad day.
³He was a misunderstood guy. He pushed the envelope a little too much, but Š geez Š ³This breaks my heart.ıı




Posted on Jun 21, 2005, 7:17 AM