It was a surreal moment for Prince George Cougars head coach Dean Clark when team captain Brock Hirsche was forced into retirement from junior hockey due to a shoulder injury this week.
"It's unfortunate for him and it's an emotional day for me," said Clark. "The same thing happened to me as a 20-year-old where I couldn't continue the season."
Clark was playing for the Western Hockey League's Kamloops Blazers when his own shoulders gave out during the 1984-85 season and he was forced to hang up his skates from junior hockey after 36 games with the Blazers. The Cougars bench boss said he finished the season working as an assistant coach to first-year Blazers head coach Ken Hitchcock, similar to Hirsche helping coach the Cougars in the last two seasons when he was injured.
The Cougars have invited Hirsche to continue working as an assistant coach for the remainder of the season but the Lethbridge native is undecided on whether to take the team up on the offer or begin taking classes in January at the University of Lethbridge. Hirsche said he'd make a final decision after the Christmas break.
"He's a great kid and a great leader," said Clark. "You just don't replace guys like that. You want to have as many of those type of guys on your team as you can have. Those are the guys you win championships with.
"Whether he decides to come back, I hope he does, but if he doesn't, that's fine too," he added.
Whether Hirsche will play again is up in the air but Clark played one season, 1986-87, with the Alberta Golden Bears before turning to coaching full-time.
Clark said he knew Hirsche was in trouble right away when he went down Nov. 9 during a second-period penalty kill against the Edmonton Oil Kings because of his own experience.
"When he went down - he went to go block a shot and just put his arm out to support him - I knew when he started to twist that it probably popped out, so I kind of knew what had happened," said Clark.
Hirsche suffered a dislocated left shoulder but X-rays showed more extensive damage, requiring him to undergo his third shoulder surgery - the second on his left side - on Tuesday for a torn labrum, which has a minimum recovery time of three months.
Clark said there's a lesson for the other Cougars players in Hirsche's misfortune.
"I hope other guys see with what's happened to Brock today and, I hope they understand a little bit more the opportunity that they have and nothing's a given, sometimes things happen and you don't have the chance to play anymore," said Clark. "I hope they understand that and learn from it and be better players because of it."
Harkins added to Cougars' staff
Todd Harkins, dad of Cougars top bantam pick Jansen, was added to the team's coaching staff Thursday as an assistant coach until January due to Jason Becker being busy coaching Team Pacific at the 2013 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Quebec.
Harkins spent 10 years playing in the NHL with the Calgary Flames and Hartford Whalers before turning to coaching with the North Shore Winter Club where he captured three provincial peewee titles before leading the Vancouver Northwest Giants to two B.C. Major Midget League championships. In 2011-12 Harkins was named the BCMML coach of the year.
Cougars fans should get their first look at Jansen in a WHL game next week when his BCMML Giants are in town to play the Cariboo Cougars. The younger Harkins made his WHL debut last month against the Vancouver Giants. With the MML Giants, Harkins has six goals and 30 points in 17 games this season.
Cougars weekend
The Cougars (10-14-1-3) play in Kamloops tonight, 7 p.m., against the Blazers (22-7-1-2) where they dropped a pair of shootout losses in November before heading to Kelowna for a Saturday, 7 p.m., game with the red-hot Rockets (18-9-1-1). The Rockets have won 11 straight home games.
Cats leading scorer Colin Jacobs will miss the road trip while serving the third and fourth games of his six-game suspension, while defenceman Marc McNulty (eye infection) may return to the lineup but forward Chase Witala (lower-body injury) is considered week to week.
The Cougars may or may not have forward Alex Forsberg (suspected concussion) back as the 17-year-old is considered day to day.
"It's one of those things where we've got to go through protocols and different things," said Clark.
