During the interview process to find the new head coach and general manager for the team, Battlefords North Stars vice president Tanner Daniels heard a statement from Brandon Heck that stood out.
“With his background with the bantam program in Camrose and the adjustments you have to make coming up to a league like the SJHL, I asked him what he would say to people who felt like he wasn’t ready to make that move up to the junior level,” Daniels said.
“He looked me square in the eye and said ‘If you don’t hire me, you are going to regret it.’ When someone makes a statement like that, it’s something I don’t take lightly.”
The reigning Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League champions officially welcomed Heck to the organization at a press conference Wednesday at the Civic Centre, which also saw former player Boyd Wakelin rejoin the North Stars as an assistant coach.
“When you look at the names that have been here in the past, there’s a number that stand out,” Heck said. “I look at a guy like [current Edmonton Oilers head coach] Todd McLellan, who got his start here behind the bench.
“I’m excited about coming here and my main goal is to provide great entertainment for the North Stars fans.”
Heck, 32, has spent the last four seasons behind the bench of the Camrose Red Wings of the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League.
During his playing career, the Forrestburg, Alta. native suited up for the MJHL’s Winkler Flyers and AJHL’s Drayton Valley Thunder before a four-year stint with the Castleton Spartans NCAA Division III program in Vermont.
“I’ve been working as a coach for the last seven years and it was a goal of mine to get to the Junior A level,” Heck said. “The Saskatchewan league fits my style of play, which is a fast and physical style of hockey.
“With Battlefords coming off a league championship, this is an ideal place for someone to come and play for, let alone be involved as a coach.”
After taking over a team that won just one game in the 2012-13 season, Heck led the Red Wings to three playoff appearances and a trip to the AMBHL quarter-finals in 2016.
The program also had eight players from last year’s team selected in the Western Hockey League’s Bantam Draft in May.
“The track record that Brandon has in developing players was something that really stood out for us in the interview process,” Daniels said.
“He did that while working another job and only having a couple of practices a week. It’s kind of scary to think about what he will be able to do with this being his full-time job now and having up to five practices a week.”
Wakelin was actually hired earlier this summer prior to the departure of former head coach and general manager Nate Bedford, who left the North Stars in June to take over coaching duties for the Portage College Voyageurs in Lac La Biche, Alta.
The 26-year-old Battleford product suited up for the team from 2009 to 2012 and is coming off a five-year stint in the Alberta College Athletics Conference with the Augustana Vikings.
“It’s pretty special as a hometown kid who watched the North Stars and ended up playing for them to now be involved behind the bench after stepping away from the game,” Wakelin said.
“As last year was winding down, I was looking to get involved in a coaching role to stay in the game as I finished up playing. To do that here is really exciting.”
Wakelin is replacing Braden Johnson, who served as an assistant coach for two and a half seasons prior to his departure in June as he’s gone back to school.
Heck and Wakelin are now gearing up for the North Stars’ training camp, which is slated to get underway Aug. 30.
“We’re going to be sitting down here in the coming days and work out a bit of a game plan especially when it comes to our personnel,” Wakelin said. “We’ve both been in touch with [assistant general manager] Wylie Riendeau with the trades that been made over the last few weeks, but now we will start the process of making more moves to set the roster.
“It’s a quick turnaround from getting hired to getting the season start,” Heck added. “We don’t want to over think things and we’re going to make sure that we get the right advice from guys like Nate as we move forward.”
