There has been a shakeup in the Saddle Lake Warriors’ Junior B hockey organization, as the club now has a new general manager in place, as well as two new coaches patrolling behind the bench.
The team sits at the bottom of the standings in the NEAJBHL. Winston Lapatak, a member of the board of directors, explained why the group decided to make a change.
“Basically (because of) poor results, and low and erratic attendance at practices, which led to poor attendance and efforts in games,” he said.
The Warriors have now placed Stan Olson in the position of general manager of the club. Most recently, Olson was the general manager of the expansion Frog Lake T-Birds. He helped construct the Junior B team from scratch leading up to the franchise’s first year in existence.
“Once we had the 25-man roster set up, my job was done. They wanted to put a local guy in there,” he said of his position in Frog Lake.
Olson was at the Warriors’ home game on Dec. 7 when they took on the Killam Wheat Kings to the tune of a 6-0 loss, even though he wasn’t yet a week into his new role.
“They gave me a call here about five days ago,” he said after the game. “They wanted to see if I could help straighten this club out. We’ll do that.”
The team also has a new head coach in place, a transition that began about two weeks ago. The term “new” is a relative one, as the Warriors’ current bench boss, Terry Ewasiuk, is entering into this third stint as the team’s head coach. He held the role in 2000 when the Warriors were named the NEAJBHL champions, and also spent a number of years coaching at Portage College.
“I’ve got some ties here, and I’ve had a lot of success here,” he said of his decision to once again take the helm in Saddle Lake. “I like a challenge. I hadn’t coached in a couple years, and I thought I’d give it a try.”
He won’t have to take on this challenge alone, as he brought with him assistant coach Clint Trimble, who spent seven years with Ewasiuk at Portage College.
Ewasiuk’s first goal as head coach was to ensure there would be enough Warriors present at each game in order to give the team a chance to compete. Achieving this meant the combination of adding a few new players and motivating the current roster.
“I think that was one of the key things that was hurting them,” he said of the Warriors’ lack of attendance. “They would show up to games with 11 players, seven players, and you’re not even competitive then.”
In the short time since the shift in management occurred, Lapatak has already noticed a change.
“In the last couple weeks we’ve seen a resurgence with respect to our practices, having 18 to 20 guys at practice,” he said. “Our last two games, we’ve had as close to a full lineup as you can get.”
Ewasiuk, too, is pleased to see the direction that things are moving.
“We’ve had some really good practices now,” he said. “They are doing things that they weren’t doing before. They’re definitely a lot more disciplined, and their conditioning is getting better.”
Everyone involved in the turnover realizes that change will not happen overnight.
“Things are looking better moving forward. We’re going to do our best to remain patient, to grow and learn with the young guys as they continue to learn and step up to this very skilled and competitive level of Junior B hockey,” Lapatak said. “Having everything shifted midseason is never a fun or easy task, but nonetheless it’s something that we’ve embarked on. We’re committed to our young guys, and our new management and coaching.”
“It all takes time,” added Ewasiuk. “Everybody’s got to make a commitment to the team. As soon as we came in, we made some changes to player personnel who just didn’t fit with what we are looking for, and now we’re looking for the type of players that we like – hardworking, honest hockey players who will give you a committed effort every night.”
Mathematically, the team still has a chance to make the playoffs this year, though the folks in charge seem to have other goals in mind.
“We want to be competitive every night, and we want to take on some good young players,” Olson said. “We’re putting in our blood, sweat, and tears now, and we don’t want to do that again next year.
In his third kick at the can, Ewasiuk knows that the people of Saddle Lake are hoping to see their hockey team turn things around in a positive way.
“The community is big here. They are sports fans and hockey nuts. They love the game, and they were disappointed (with the team), so now we’re trying to win them back,” he said.
