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Hood excited to lead the Cold Lake Ice

Scott Hood is the new head coach of the Cold Lake Ice and as such, he is ready for the challenge of bringing the team to the next level. “I wanted to join the Cold Lake Ice and thought I could bring something to the team.
Scott Hood has been named the new head coach of the Cold Lake Ice Jr. B hockey team.
Scott Hood has been named the new head coach of the Cold Lake Ice Jr. B hockey team.

Scott Hood is the new head coach of the Cold Lake Ice and as such, he is ready for the challenge of bringing the team to the next level.

“I wanted to join the Cold Lake Ice and thought I could bring something to the team. They've been very successful the previous years and I think I can help them get over that hump and win a provincial title,” said Hood.

A Cold Lake resident and oil industry employee, Hood brings with him nine years of coaching for minor hockey teams but this will be his first formal coaching experience. Spending several years as a player himself, Hood believes that will be beneficial when it comes to connecting with the Ice players.

“I was one of them and I played at the Jr. B level, enjoyed it and was successful. It definitely helps me relate with the guys, what they're going through.”

During his time with the Lloydminster Bandits, Hood won four league championships and two provincial titles. From 1999 to 2008, he played senior AAA for the Lloydminster Border Kings collecting two Allen Cup championships. Under the direction of Brian Sutter, Hood won a third Allen Cup in 2009 during a stint with the Bentley Generals from 2008 to 2011.

Hood also had the opportunity to play with Team Canada as they toured Poland in 2001 under Willie Desjardin, current Vancouver Canuck's coach.

Knowing what a winning team looks like, Hood is confident he can advance the local Jr. B team not just on but off the ice. After the upheaval the team faced last season, the new coach is ready to take on the challenge.

“It's not just on the ice and winning a sixth straight league title, it's getting the community back involved in the team and getting the guys excited,” said Hood. “I'm just looking forward to this year and getting them back to where they were a few years ago.”

There will be some noticeable absences come next season as former Cold Lake Ice players Zach Zarowny, Devon Hascarl, Tanner Corbeil reached the end of their eligibility for Jr. B hockey in Alberta. As well as Jamie Miller, who committed to Portage College earlier this year. This will leave the new head coach with the task of putting together another league championship team.

“Hard work is a big thing, attention to detail and obviously skill is a great thing. Everybody's got a clean slate and that's the biggest thing, I hope everybody comes back to play and is as excited as I am. Definitely hard work and commitment to the team are going to be the two big things,” said Hood.

He added, “These guys coming back have first choice, my priority is to focus on the guys coming back. Then there's some midget kids coming up that we're definitely going to look at on a local level and then it's just trying to fill in the pieces.”

Hood will be stepping in for former head coach Paul Desjardins, who stepped down from his position upon the completion of the 2014-2015 season.

While admitting he's a little nervous, Hood expressed that he's exciting to be making the jump into coaching Jr. B hockey. Being new to the junior coaching scene, the Cold Lake Ice head coach is drawing on some inspiration from his own mentors.

“I played under some good coaches and learned from them. Kent Staniforth in Lloyd, I kind of model myself after him, he was a good buddy and a coach. So I look forward to seeing how I can do compared to him,” Hood said. “I have a lot to learn and I'm very excited for it.”

In the months leading up to the season's start, Hood will be working on developing a team as well as securing his own staff. While he has started making some progress on looking for assistant coaches, he said he has yet to find someone to commit to the position.

The 2015-2016 NEAJBHL schedule was released last week. The Cold Lake Ice and their new head coach will start the season with three away games, the first of those being on October 2 in St. Paul. The following games take place October 3 in Vegreville and October 7 in Saddle Lake.

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