The Yorkton Terriers have hired a new assistant bench boss to start the new season. The new assistant coach, Casey O'Brian has some pretty solid hockey credentials both on the ice and on the bench.
O'Brian who hails from Gloucester, Ontario, about 20 minutes from downtown in the nation's capitol, Ottawa, played his minor hockey in Gloucester. He moved up to Junior B hockey in Ottawa before advancing to the central league. After playing in the central league, O'Brian played for the University of Guelph for five years.
He had an opportunity to play in Norway for two seasons before returning to Canada. An initial start in the U.S. led to the decision to hang up his skates and turn his efforts to coaching hockey.
O'Brian is married. He and his wife currently live in Melville where his wife teaches.
He began coaching while playing Junior B hockey in Ottawa. "I was helping out with younger kids and really enjoyed it so I got into it," O'Brian recalls. He spent his summer working with youngsters at summer hockey schools. "I love working with kids to be honest with you. I don't care if they're two years old right til 20, boys actually are still boys," he explains.
While in Norway, O'Brian became the head coach for the junior team. When the head coach on the pro team he played for couldn't attend a practice, O'Brian would run the practice as the player/coach. He would also be called on to run the defense during games while he was off the ice due to injury.
After his brief stint in the U.S., O'Brian coached minor hockey. He was the player development coach at the Banff Hockey Academy for the two years prior to coming to the Terriers.
He's seen a good deal of change in the game recently, both in Europe and in Canada. The old 'clutch and grab' game has given way to more skill development, O'Brian suggests. He also suggests there are many more younger players being successful in professional hockey.
The coaching in Canada is also getting better, he asserts.
O'Brian says he learned a lot while playing in Europe. They used a lot of different drills for skill development in Norway which he has incorporated into his practices. For tactical skills like breakouts, power plays and penalty kill, he adjusts to the team's strengths. He uses his assets to build his systems around those strengths.
As a coach O'Brian wants to be as positive as possible in a game where the opportunity for mistakes is always there. "Usually the team that makes the fewest mistakes is going to come out on top," he states, "as does the team that capitalizes on the other team's mistakes."
As a former defenseman, he likes to have six mobile defensemen that move the puck quick and make the good first pass.
In his first year working a Junior A hockey camp, O'Brian was quite impressed with the talent he saw over the weekend. "We've got a lot of midget age kids here that look really good. They will be good future players for us or maybe even move on to the WHL," he suggests.
He was also impressed with the returning veterans. "We have a lot of good talent out there right now and there are going to be a lot of tough decisions to make in the next week or so," O'Brian says. By next Sunday when Estevan is in town, the Terriers may be close to their final roster, he closes.
