By Robb Fenton
With the dismissal of Tom Keca as Lloydminster Bobcats head coach and the announcement made Tuesday afternoon, the organization looked back at how Jim Crosson and Tom Keca turned the team around.
Crosson reflected on Keca and his time in charge.
“On ice, our record hasn’t been great, but if I look back from when we took over the product on the ice and where it’s at now. I think they (the players) work hard every night, they’re accountable, they don’t take shortcuts, so I think that has improved even though our record hasn’t,” Crosson said.
Aside from the play, stats and standings, junior hockey is about developing kids into men and possible future hockey players, and Crosson is very proud of the job he and Keca have done in regards to that.
“Off the ice, Tom is extremely strict with the players with discipline, curfews and those things. They’re kids, they’re going to try to get away with things, but there was certainly more accountability than there was four years ago,” he said. “For that, we have to be extremely proud.”
The players they have moved on to the next level is something they are satisfied with and are hoping people remember from their time with the team.
“Tom and Jim have done a lot of hardwork and we have sent a few kids to college and really, we’re proud of things as ownership. We just thought it was time to change and go this route,” Russell said.
Crosson moving on
With Keca moving on and a new head coach coming in, Crosson feels it is his time to move on and take the next step in his life and hockey career.
“I talked to Wayne about it after he talked to Tom and I told Wayne, ultimately there has to be a guy in town that can make both decisions (coach’s and GM’s). I may be around longer than you think, or longer than you want,” Crosson joked. “Tom and I had a great relationship, we knew what each other wanted and liked as far as players go, we never got far off. We always had good debates and discussions and I’m not sure I can be on that same wave length as someone else. To drop someone in to coach, I don’t think that’s fair to them.
“I would be more than happy to help out, but I would be moving on. One guy needs the job,” he added.
Russell has no regrets about who he hired and when he did it.
Crosson and Keca were the right people for the job when Russell and his group took over and although things didn’t work out exactly the way they wanted, Russell was happy with what the coach and general manager did for the club.
“Jim did a great job for us. When we took over the club four years ago, they (Tom and Jim) did a lot of hard work to bring it to the state it’s in right now,” Russell explained.