By Melanie Jacob
Journal Editor
mjacob@humboldtjournal.ca
Broncos fans can stop holding their breath since Ryan Smith was recently announced as the new coach.
Hailing all the way from Winnipeg, Smith will be coming with six years of coaching experience and 12 years playing professional hockey.
"When Dean (Brockman) moved to the Saskatoon Blades, he gave me a quick call to see if I would be interested in the coaching position," said Smith. "When someone as respected as Dean asks, it's something to be considered."
After obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree more than 18 years ago, Smith went overseas to England to play hockey for a year. From there, he moved to Germany where he continued to play professionally until he was 35.
Once he returned, he immediately jumped into the teaching side of the game by becoming the assistant coach for the Winnipeg Blues. After a year, he was given the position of head coach and general manager of the Selkirk Steelers, where he remained for the last five seasons until now.
"The board has been great. It's very exciting," said Smith. "For me, it's a change, which is never a bad thing."
Smith is a two-time Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) all-star head coach and was also named MJHL Coach of the Year in 2013. By leading the Steelers to first place in Manitoba and second in the overall regular season ranking in the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL), Smith was also named runner up for the CJHL Coach of the Year. As if that wasn't enough, Smith was an assistant coach with Team Canada West for the past two years, resulting in a silver medal in 2012 and a bronze in 2013.
"In junior A, I enjoyed every year and all of its ups and down," said Smith. "Now I'm looking forward to becoming part of the SJHL (Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League)."
When it comes to joining this team, Smith said he isn't worried. As far as he's concerned, all that's left is for him and the players to get to know each other.
"I think the team I'm inheriting is ready to go. The pieces are there for a really strong season and the players from last year are a year older," said Smith. "We'll find roles for everyone and make sure everyone can play. I don't believe in dressing up a player and then have him sitting on the bench."
In that sense, Smith says he has a mixture of two different coaching styles. On the one hand, he comes from the old school where the coaches were tough and players just had to buckle down and do their best. On the other hand, he understands that kids are living in a different society now.
"I would say I'm a hybrid. I respect the old school tough style, but the world has changed. Kids live in an optical world now; they need to see things and have it explained to them," said Smith. "I like rules and regulations, but this isn't the army. I want them to feel comfortable with me, but at the end of the day my job is to train them."
Whether or not he used those coaching tactics at home are unknown, but Smith's family will soon be joining him here in Humboldt. His wife is working and his kids are in school, so he's hoping they'll be here with him within the next year.
Until then, Smith has some work of his own to catch up on getting settled in the community, getting comfortable with the players, and getting to know the Broncos board.
The community will be able to meet the new coach during Streetfest on Saturday afternoon during the Broncos activities with kids.
