They had a new goaltender to greet, as Boston Bilous had arrived from Prince Albert after a trade earlier in the day, but other than that, the post-Tim Hunter Era looked like a typical practice day for the local Western Hockey League squad.
“It was just a normal morning, we did our stretch and our normal morning routine. Things changed a little bit with practice, we worked on some things and we’re just going to do what we can to keep it positive moving forward,” said Warriors captain Owen Hardy of how things were initially different after the team’s decision Monday to relieve Hunter of his head coaching duties and replace him with associate coach Mark O’Leary.
“This is the kind of thing that happens when a team doesn’t have success, someone has to pay for it and unfortunately Tim was the one who it happened to. You never like to see those kinds of things happen, especially mid-season, so it’s definitely mixed emotions. You don’t want to see that happen but we’re excited that Learsy is getting this opportunity.”
O’Leary admitted it was a little strange without Hunter working with the team through the day leading up to practice and once they were on the ice. But in the end, the game must go on.
“It was pretty good actually, we talked about some things we wanted to push and stress moving forward here,” O’Leary said after Tuesday’s practice. “It’s an exciting time right now for a couple guys, maybe a fresh start, but I think it was important to talk about how, moving forward, Tim still has a stamp on this team. I owe a lot of where I am as a coach now to Tim, certainly the lessons he’s taught the players and myself going forward will be things we’re building on.”
The team plans to continue with the current coaching crew in place – assistant coach Scott King, associate Olivia Howe and goaltending coach Matt Weninger will all have input and will continue to work with the team as they have in the past.
“We have no choice but to move on… we have to push forward and I have to put my own stamp on things and that’s what Tim has taught me to do,” O’Leary said. “So this was a good first step for us and we’re excited to get things rolling right away against Edmonton.”
The Warriors are back in action Wednesday night when they host the Western Hockey League-leading Oil Kings. Game time is 7 p.m. at Mosaic Place.
