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Cats coaches have help lined up

He didn't get the job he wanted as general manager but Mark Holick can rest assured the new ownership group of the Prince George Cougars is confident he will lead the team to new heights as the head coach.

He didn't get the job he wanted as general manager but Mark Holick can rest assured the new ownership group of the Prince George Cougars is confident he will lead the team to new heights as the head coach.

The new brass is allowing Holick to bring in a supporting cast of hockey professionals and giving him and general manager Todd Harkins free rein to make hockey decisions - whatever it takes for the Cougars to shed their perpetual loser tag.

Already signed for the next two seasons, Holick had his contract extended another two years. If that wasn't enough to make him feel wanted, it was left up to Holick to decide who the team should hire as an assistant coach. He chose Michael Hengen to replace Jason Becker, who left in June for a head coaching job with the Okanagan Hockey Academy.

"It's important to have people you know and trust and I've known Mike for awhile and the more I talked to him the more I thought this kid is on the ball," said Holick. "I think he provides what we need. He has energy and passion but he's all about structure as well and the kids will enjoy him."

Hengen played four full seasons in the WHL and won the BCHL championship in 2008 as captain of the Penticton Vees. After two seasons of pro hockey in Germany he retired in 2010 and began a four-year stint as an assistant coach with the Vees, helping them win a national championship in 2012. Still four months shy of his 27th birthday, he shouldn't have any trouble relating to the players.

"This is an unbelievable opportunity for me and my young family - this team and this city is ready for a winner and just having the right guys in place to develop the young players the team has been accumulating the last few years I think it's the right time for a move for myself and my wife [Melody]," said Hengen.

"I grew up in Surrey and watched coach Holick's Surrey Eagles, and playing in the Western League I lost many games to his Kootenay Ice. I'm very familiar with his coaching style and obviously we have a personal relationship, with his family living in Penticton and me [as a strength and conditioning coach] training his son Cooper."

The Cougars now subscribe to the XOS Digital software program and video technology to break down game tapes as a learning tool. Hengen is familiar with the system having used it in Penticton. His primary responsibilities next season will be developing the defencemen and designing penalty-kill strategies.

The Cougars plan to put more emphasis on specialty teams, one of their weak points last season and a big part of the reason they missed the playoffs for the third straight year. Their power play ranked 21st out of 22 teams and they were 17th overall in penalty killing.

"We led the league in goals-against two of the four years I was [coaching the Vees]," said Hengen. "I take that to heart, and if we give up three goals at home, I don't care if we win, I'm not going to be happy. We're going to get at that area right away and make sure it improves."

Holick, 45, is in the process of moving his family to Prince George from Penticton. That means finding a home for his wife Janet, son Cooper and 14-year-old daughter Kennedy. Cooper, 18, has been accepted into UNBC to study education.

The Cougars had a second assistant coach essentially hired but found out two weeks ago their candidate was unable to commit to the job of managing the power play and working with the forward group. While that search continues, the Cougars have confirmed Justin Cardinal, hired as a goaltending coach last season, will be back with the team.

Holick has firsthand experience working with Vancouver-based sports psychologist Saul Miller, hired by the Cougars as a consultant for next season. Miller helped Holick's Surrey Eagles win the Royal Bank Cup in 1998.

"He was a big reason we did what we did that season," said Holick. "I consider him a close friend and now we have him working with us. He'll come up when we need him and be available for Skype sessions and we'll be down on the coast a lot so he'll meet us on the road. I'm a big believer in it. I think it will benefit our players a lot."

The Cougars didn't have a power skating coach last season but they do now. Karen Kos of North Vancouver has been hired to offer position-specific instruction during lulls in the schedule on extended homestands.

"The philosophy that Todd and I share with the ownership group is we just want our players worrying about hockey, we don't want them to worry about anything else but coming to the rink and knowing everything is looked after," said Holick. "We're going to try to treat our boys as professional and as high-end as possible and make this the place to play in the Western Hockey League."