Photo: Tom Keca was relieved of his duties by the Bobcats on Monday. Brian Curran has been announced as his replacement.
By Robb Fenton
It was a tough day for many in the Lloydminster Bobcats, but it was necessary.
The 'Cats announced Monday that Tom Keca was relieved of his duties as head coach and director of player personnel.
“As an organization, we decided to relieve Tom of his duties. It was a tough decision, but in light of what's happened with the organization and where we're going we felt it was time to make a change,” Bobcats general manager Jim Crosson said. “Tom has worked hard for three and a half years. We came to the organization together, so it's a tough day, but we need to move on.”
While Crosson explained the situation and spoke on behalf of the organization, he too will move on in the near future.
“The new head coach and general manager Brian Curran will be in town and he will take over. I'll stay on to work in transition with him, then it will be his to take over and go from there,” Crosson said. “It's something we as an organization and (club owner) Wayne (Russell) and his group at Rusway figured we needed to do at this time.”
Russell admitted it wasn't an easy decision to make, but it is the right move for the club.
“We sat down Monday and talked to Tom. It was a hard day for me. Tom has been with us for three and a half years, so it was a hard day,” Russell. “We sat down, talked and we thought the best thing we could do for the club was to let Tom go.”
Keca's record in just over three seasons with the 'Cats was 84-109-3-17 and the team never finished higher than sixth in the North Division.
A good friend and a coworker for the past three seasons, Crosson was clearly not happy to see Keca go, but being around the game, knew it was time.
“It's tough, really tough,” he said, to see Keca go. “We thank Tom for everything he's done, he's worked very hard at this and unfortunately things didn't work out the way we planned it.”
Curran in
The Bobcats announced that former Brooks Bandits coach Brian Curran will take over behind the bench. Curran is expected to run his first practice Wednesday morning and will meet with the media in the afternoon. Curran was released earlier this season by Brooks.
Check out Thursday’s Source for more on the coaching change and Curran's press conference.