The faces will be new, but oh-so familiar.
When head coach Trevor Sprague looks down the bench of the Cariboo Cougars this coming Major Midget League season, he'll see Brad Crossan and Tim Sprague not too far away. Crossan and Tim Sprague are both joining the hockey club as assistant coaches.
Crossan is a long-time local coach who has also worked in the B.C. Hockey high performance program. As well, he is the senior regional scout for the Western Hockey League's Victoria Royals. Back in his playing days, Crossan skated in the junior ranks with the Prince George Spruce Kings and the Saskatchewan-based Melville Millionaires. Later, he spent a couple of seasons in Sweden's First Division.
Trevor Sprague is happy to be adding a person of Crossan's experience to the Cariboo staff.
"He's a guy that's been around the game his whole life," he said. "He's a guy that myself and the rest of the staff can learn stuff from and run things by. He looks at the game in a different aspect in a lot of ways and you still learn stuff from him every time you spend a practice with him or talk with him about a game. That's what Brad brings and he wants to work with high-end athletes and that's what we do."
Crossan, a firefighter by trade, will primarily be responsible for the Cariboo forwards.
As for Tim Sprague, he's the younger brother of the head coach and, for the past few seasons, has been working behind the scenes with the team. He has specialized in face-off strategy and technique.
"That's something he's going to take ownership of," Trevor Sprague said. "He's got a task and a goal in mind that we've given him. He's going to learn from guys like Brad and myself in how to run a hockey team and hopefully he'll be able to take a team over sooner rather than later."
Tim Sprague is a former Prince George Spruce King.
This will be the first time the Sprague boys will officially coach together.
"It's pretty cool to have my brother there," Trevor Sprague said. "It's something he's ready to do and be committed to."
Meanwhile, Bryan MacLean will be back for his second season as an assistant coach and Trevor Foster will return as the goaltending coach. In another move, Andy Beesley will go from manager to assistant manager. Jeff Sargeant will add the title of manager to a portfolio that includes play-by-play broadcaster and media relations director.
Beesley has served as manager of the Cats for the past four seasons.
"He's definitely going to be missed," Trevor Sprague said. "But, at the same time, I know we've got a great guy that's filling in his shoes and making his own name with Jeff there."
The Cariboo club will hold its evaluation camp Aug. 10-12 at the Elksentre and Coliseum. Close to 90 players have registered.
The 20-player roster will be finalized by Sept. 15.
For the past three seasons, the Cougars have finished second in the MML regular season and playoffs.
