By Robb Fenton
At the end of the day, it wasn’t a very difficult decision.
The tag of interim head coach will be removed from Brian Curran. Last week he signed on to take the helm of the Lloydminster Bobcats in 2010-2011, with an option for another year.
“It was the discussions I’ve had with Jimmy (Crosson) and Wayne (Russell) and the organization as far as what I would like to do to try to rebuild hockey back up here in Lloydminster,” Curran said. “We’re not really in a rebuilding season per se, we’re looking a few years down the road, more like three.”
Saying that, Curran fully intends to put a competitive, tough team on the ice that works hard and is tough to play against.
While the wins may not come as quickly as everyone is hoping, progress will be made.
“We’ll have some young players on, no question, but we’ll have a little older team this year. A more physical team is what we’re looking for, a team that is more accountable in their own building,” Curran explained of what he wants next season. “That’s the reason I came back, I can control that. I’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Finishing up with spring camp this week, Curran plans on taking a week off to prepare for a long scouting mission where he plans on hitting as many places as he can to find the players he wants to see in a Bobcats uniform next season.
“I’m going to go hard at. All the month of May I’ll be gone recruiting, trying to find those players and we’ll see what we can bring back,” he said.
With the potential for a solid group of returning players, Curran has the advantage of knowing who will be back, but also noted he will find the players that best suit his style of coaching and will fit into the game plan he wants in place, meaning some players won’t be back in the fold, regardless of how they did last year or where they played.
“We’ve got 15 returning players, but we’re not going to have all of those back. I’m not going to sugar coat it anymore – we’re not going to have some back,” Curran said. “It’s nothing personal towards them whatsoever, we just need a little more size or need our smaller guys to player a little stronger. We have a few that do that, but we have to put a lineup together that can play any variation of game.”
Curran noted he wants a team that has every dimension of hockey from scoring to defence, toughness and goaltending and everything in between that makes a team successful.
“If a team wants to skate with us, we’ll skate with them, if a team wants to play tough with us, we’ll play tough with them – that’s what I want,” Curran clearly stated. “I’m a blue collar type of guy and that’s the kind of hockey teams I like to have. The kinds people enjoy watching, kids work their tails off and work for everything. Even if we don’t win a game, people will know the kids gave everything they had. That’s what we need around here.”