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New Spruce Kings assistant happy to move up |
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Written by JASON PETERS, Citizen staff
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Sunday, 24 August 2008 |
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PRINCE GEORGE SPRUCE KINGSSPRUCE KINGSHOCKEY LEAGUEQUESNEL MILLIONAIRES
It may sound like a step in the wrong direction. But, because Bayne Koen is moving from the B-level Pacific International Junior Hockey League to the B.C. Hockey League -- one of the top junior A loops in Canada -- he’s willing to assume a supportive role behind the bench of his new team, the Prince George Spruce Kings.
“I’ve been brought in and I have to listen to what the boss says,” said Koen, who was head man for the PIJHL’s Port Moody/Port Coquitlam Black Panthers the past five seasons. “Sometimes you’re not the boss at work and you’ve got to listen. If you don’t do your job then you’re not going to be around. I’m not even looking at it (as going from head coach to assistant coach). I’m just looking at it as a great opportunity to come and help the organization and the staff there do the best we can. Head guy in the PIJHL or assistant coach in the BCHL -- I know where I want to be and I know where a lot of guys would want to be in my position.”
Koen, a 35-year-old from Surrey, replaces former associate coach Stewart Malgunas, who resigned on Aug. 1. Koen has signed a one-year contract with the Kings and will start fulfilling his duties on Tuesday. He is scheduled to arrive in Prince George Tuesday morning and will be in his work clothes that night when the Spruce Kings play an exhibition game against the Quesnel Millionaires at the Coliseum. Koen’s new boss is Ed Dempsey, head coach, general manager and alternate governor of the Kings.
Koen, whose hiring was announced last Thursday, is aware of the tumultuous summer the Kings have experienced as an organization. The club, after hearing concerns from former players, including captains Brayden Penner and Ryan de Vries, launched an internal investigation into Dempsey’s coaching practices. On Aug. 1, the same day as Malgunas’s resignation, team president Darcy Buryn told The Citizen the issue boiled down to “difference of opinion over coaching styles or motivational techniques.” Dempsey is now in the final year of a two-year contract.
“I’m not worried about that stuff,” Koen said. “Whatever has happened has happened, right? I’m coming in as a new guy. That’s the way I’m looking at it. I don’t know (the details) and I’m not getting into it. It’s not my business.”
Koen did have connections to the Spruce Kings prior to his hiring. He’s a friend of Kings head scout Royel Caswell, who informed him of the job opening. Koen said he has also met Dempsey a couple of times. As well, Koen knows former Spruce Kings player Derek May.
“He’s a friend of mine from down here,” Koen said. “He actually worked for me for a couple of summers. I always kept kind of an eye (on the Kings) and talked to Royel and stuff. He gave me a call about two weeks ago and said, ‘Hey, throw your resume in there and see what happens.’ Obviously I threw it in and I was lucky.”
Koen is a former defenceman who made brief appearances in the minor professional ranks, including seven games in the East Coast Hockey League in 1997-98 with the Charlotte Checkers and Wheeling Nailers. He began coaching about 10 years ago and got his first job in the PIJHL with the Richmond Sockeyes.
Two seasons ago, the Black Panthers -- who had moved from Port Coquitlam to Port Moody -- finished in last place in the eight-team league with a mark of 6-36-4-2. Last season, they improved to 23-24-0-1, good for fifth spot.
“The year before, we were in transition from moving from PoCo to Port Moody,” Koen said. “We didn’t really get settled in our rink until December. We didn’t have practices locked down because the rink wasn’t ready. We had lots of injuries and lots of stuff that we couldn’t really dictate. There was one time we only practiced once in a month because they had snow storms and power outages. It was unbelievable. I think we lost 15 or 16 games that year by one goal. It was a very tough season and I learned a lot from that year.
“Coming up to last year, I thought we had a legitimate team. We played very well. I think we were 12-4 in 16 games. We battled a lot of injuries last year and a lot of adversity on and off the ice -- just trying to get our organization (established) and getting kids to want to be there.”
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 24 August 2008 )
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