Yorkton Harvest Hockey Club president Garth Simms announced the resignation of Harvest head coach Graham Garrett after three years behind the Harvest bench. Garrett, Simms reports, resigned his position as head coach in order to pursue career opportunities which will help to secure his future. The Yorkton Harvest appreciate the work and dedication Garret brought to the team and to the club, says Simms.
For his part, Garret saw the past season as an up and down season for the club. There was a lot of movement and indecision with junior teams as far as players returning to the team.
Early injuries also made it tough to pull the team together, which didn't happen until some time in November, he says. By Christmas time, Garret points out, there were only five players who had played every game.
The team began to play well in December. Going on the road in January, the team struggled. The Harvest couldn't overcome the adversity on the road as well as Garrett had hoped which put the Harvest up against the top team in the league in the first round of the playoffs.
Garret started coaching with his dad when he was 14 years-old. He became head coach of a peewee team in Flin Flon at 16. Every year since then he has been involved in coaching and summer hockey schools. "It was always something I saw myself doing, and loved to do. Walking away from it isn't an easy thing," he admits.
At this time he's unsure whether he'll want to get back into the game or whether he'll enjoy simply being a fan and watching the game.
"I've been around long enough and I'm old enough now that sometimes you just know when it's time to move on. And this was the time to move on," Garret closes.
In announcing Garrett's resignation, Simms expressed the need to find a capable replacement to lead the team to bigger and better things next season. The spring camp scheduled for the end of April put some pressure on the Harvest executive to find the new sooner rather than later, he notes.
Ideally the new coach would have a wide range of hockey experience as a player, coach and as a scout. The perfect candidate would be familiar with the team, league and players. He would have demonstrated an ability to work with the players to advance them to the next level, junior hockey and beyond. Such an individual would be hard to find given the club's financial restraints, says Simms.
Fortunately for the club, the ideal candidate is already within the Harvest organization, Simms reports. On behalf of the Yorkton Harvest, Simms announces Jeff Odgers would take over as head coach of the team and as director of player development.
In accepting the head coaching job, Odgers says the Current team was a very hard working team which competed hard and wouldn't quit. He says the Harvest outchanced the P.A. Mintos in the second game of the playoffs series but just couldn't get a break or a goal when they needed it. "But in terms of work ethic and the kids that were involved, you couldn't ask for anything more," he states.
In looking ahead to next season, Odgers says he'll be looking for players who want to be here, want to compete and want to improve. "I believe if you have a group of kids that have the competitiveness in them and they want to get better, there's really no limit to what you can do with them," he says.
He anticipates the returning veterans will provide some solid leadership to give the new team a good start.
While Odgers says he wants his team to win, the players are there to prepare for the next level of hockey. The organization, therefore wants to help the players achieve that goal. "In turn, if you're helping them, they're going to help us and it's kind of a win-win situation for both sides," he closes.
