(Mark Habscheid - pictured left, is back home after his first season as Assistant Coach of the Boston Bruins)
Wymark native Marc Habscheid is back at his off-season home at Lac Pelletier. Here's a little bit of our chat:
JK: Habby, your first year behind the bench at the NHL level, was it what you expected?
MH: Well it was pretty much what I expected yeah, because of the World Championships - coaching those teams and players. Probably the most unique part or interesting part, it's the first time in my coaching career I've not been the Head Coach, so that was a unique experience to say the least.
JK: So with that said, how was Dave Lewis (Bruins Head Coach) to work with?
MH: Oh real good, he's a good man and gave me a lot of responsibilities, it was great that way. I ran the "D" but you know it was unique because in the end he has the final call. It was interesting that way for sure.
JK: It was a slow start for the Bruins but a final push actually had you in the playoff race down the stretch. Did you feel you had a legitimate shot at that 8th seed?
MH: We did, and with about 10-12 games left we were in the hunt. Then we got some unfortunate injuries, P.J. Axelsson and Glen Murray who were two keys to us. Then (Chuck) Kobasew came to us in a trade and he wasn't able to play. That really hurt us quite a bit, those were important guys not only on the ice but in the dressing room. Once we were kind of out, it just kind of compounded from there. Once you were out the fun meter isn't too high for anyone especially the players.JK: I'm sure you're not used to being done so early in the season, either with Kelowna or with the World Championships. What's it like to be done in April already?
MH: It's not great, you always want to be playing into late spring so that's disappointing. Like we say in Saskatchewan it's always next year country so we're looking forward to that.
JK: What's the summer going to be like, what will you be up to?
MH: We're just going to be headed back and forth - the kids still have to finish up school. I'll try to get as many things done as possible so when the summer comes we will have a little bit of a summer. As far as the hockey goes I'm still going to look around and pursue the head coaching job if it's available and we'll see what happens but the situation in Boston is really good the ownership is good the General Manager is good and Dave (Lewis) is really good and treats me really well, and this city is great too. It's a city with great history and great tradition. With the Celtics, the Patriots, Red Sox, there's a lot of history and tradition. Hockey is a funny game and things change in a hurry - the only thing that is constant in the game is change and we understand.... we'll see where the winding road goes.
Marc also plans to co-host his Nancy Harvey / Marc Habscheid charity golf tournament in July making it the 2nd annual event.
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This is killing me! The Broncos are approaching the WHL's Bantam draft and could make a BIG splash - or nothing could happen at all.
We'll see if anything happens. Don't hold your breath.
Broncos Head Coach and G.M. Dean Chynoweth left for Abbottsford today on another scouting mission. The Broncos have the 9th overall pick and should be able to grab a very good player at that number. Word is there's no clear-cut #1 pick in the draft this year.
From some of the people I've talked to, Phoenix Firebird forward Luke Moffatt has garnered plenty of interest from Portland for #1 overall. Moffatt could be the most skilled player available. At the 39th annual Kamloops International Bantam Ice Hockey Tournament (KIBIHT), he collected 13 goals and four assists in getting his team all the way to the final.
Once again it looks like the majority of the draft talent lies in B.C. and Alberta.
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Looks like Friday's golf is off the table. Rain, wind and highs of about 11C here in Swifty might postpone the action. Oh well, it's a long summer.
Have a good one,
Jon
5 comments:
Jon,
Interesting commment on the Hawks looking at Moffet. He seems to fit the bill for what the Hawks are looking for, but seems to be a bit of a gamble on actually committing to play in the WHL. The Hawks have publicly stated that they will only draft players that they feel are committed to playing in the dub. So if they do in fact draft Moffet, that tells me that they have received some sort of assurance that he will play here. If they can't get that assurance I think they will trade down and pick up someone lower since a lot of the talent seems to be pretty equal this year.
CJ from Portland
Interesting q and a with Habby. The best comment that I gathered was looking at finding a head coaching position.
Habby is a leader, not a follower so I can see where it must be odd taking direction as an assistant coach.
I am not saying he is not open to what others have to say, but when you've had the success he's had, all as a head coach, it must be tough playing second fiddle on a coaching staff instead of lead guitar.
What do you mean by "once again it looks like most of the talent comes from B.C. and Alberta?" Take a look at all of the Sasky content from last year's bantam daft. All of the first round Saskatoon boys in particular.
Mole, you're right Saskatoon had I believe, 5 first rounders last year but as a whole, it was B.C. and AB that produced the most players drafted.
Here's the numbers
AB - 78
BC - 62
SK - 48
MB - 36
U.S. - 15
When take population into account, though...BC and Alberta don't even come close. Sask has about 1/4 the population of BC and 1/3 the population of Alberta. If you multiply the population of Sask and the number of Sask draft picks by 3, we still have less people than Alberta but 144 picks. Obviously, that number is pretty ridiculous, but my point is that Saskatchewan has a proportionately, higher number of picks than any of the other three provinces and the US.
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