On Mark Holick’s twitter account @coachholly68 he tweeted on April 10th the word Ouch!!!
Just two days later his pain became public when the reality set in that he was one of 10 former head coaches of the Prince George Cougars.
Officially, the team announced that the Cougars and the 47-year-old Holick mutually parted ways but it is apparent the Cats 2015-16 second half meltdown played a major role in his departure.
He had one year left on his contract plus an option.
Holick arrived in Prince George under difficult circumstances, hired by former general manager Dallas Thompson and ex owner Rick Brodsky on January 23rd, 2013 to take over from the fired Dean Clark.
To his credit, the Cougars improved each season under his leadership.
The Cats were 7-17-2 in his brief 26 game stint in 2012-13.
The Cougars missed the playoffs again in 2013-14 going 27-37-8, but qualified for the post-season the past two years with a record of 31-36-5 in 2014-15 and 36-31-5 in 2015-16.
Overall, Holick leaves Prince George with a regular season record of 101-119-20 in 240 games plus 1-8 in nine playoff appearances.
When a team in any high profile league has high expectations, and they are not filled, often the coach will pay the price.
The Cougars new ownership group, led by Team President Greg Pocock, was delighted in its first year having achieved the modest goal of being one of eight (out of 10) WHL Western Conference teams to qualify for the playoffs.
Year two was different.
The standard was much higher even though the nucleus of the team was 18 years of age or younger.
The Seattle Thunderbirds first round sweep stunned General Manager Todd Harkins, Pocock and most others in the organization.
The Cougars expected to upset the U.S. Division champions, if not at least push the them to six or seven games.
Sure two of the four games went into overtime, but it was clear to anyone that watched even part of the series that the Thunderbirds were the better team.
Seattle outscored Prince George 16-6, including one stretch where the Thunderbirds scored 10 consecutive goals.
Ownership wasn’t pleased with that performance which translated in lower than expected attendance.
In the regular season, the Cougars showed an increase of 9.5% going from 2,852 to 3,122, but the playoff figures at CN Centre were down considerably from the previous year.
In 2015, the two home playoff games against Victoria attracted a total of 8,650 fans (4,202 for game three and 4,448 for game four).
In 2016, the two home playoff games against Seattle attracted a total of 6,501 fans (3,491 for game three and 3,010 for game four), or a decline of 2,149.
At the Christmas break, Holick was a mid-season candidate for coach of the year but how quickly things can change in the hockey business.
The Cougars were 21-11-2 prior to Christmas and second in the B.C. Division before plummeting to 15-20-3 after the break, falling to 4th in the Division and settling for a wild card spot.
The lasting impression on the 2015-16 season was a nine game losing streak to close out the year (including playoffs) which overshadowed the 36 regular season wins, third most in team history.
All coaches are open to criticism especially when a team struggles at the most important time of the year.
The Cougars led the league by a substantial amount in penalty minutes in each of the past two seasons.
P.G. averaged 17.9 minutes a game in 2015-16 followed by Calgary at 14.9.
The Cats averaged 18.2 minutes a game in 2014-15 with Lethbridge second at 15.6.
Special teams struggled under Holick’s tenure, although the penalty kill was 3rd best in 15-16, but the P.K. was 22nd (Last) in 14-15 and 17th in 13-14.
The Cougars power play was ranked 17th this season, 19th last season and 21st in the 13-14 season.
Holick often showed frustration with his starting goalie by pulling Ty Edmonds and/or Nick McBride (among others) numerous times after one of them gave up a soft goal or two.
Sure it is easy sitting up in the stands or the press box to second guess how a coach operates.
Holick considers himself a career coach and he has the credentials to prove it which includes WHL Coach of the Year honors with the Kootenay Ice in 2009-10.
He will land another job and more than likely find success.
His work ethic and dedication to the game are extraordinary.
There is a shelf life for each coach and in this case his run in P.G. went 3 ½ years.
Holick made his imprint on the team and the city (including Holick’s Heroes) and he does not have to apologize for his effort as the Cats bench boss.
One may agree or disagree on whether Holick’s departure was justified, but there is no debate that the Cougars are a much better team today compared to when he took over.
With a strong nucleus of returning players, Holick’s replacement will have immediate pressure to succeed, particularly in the playoffs.
The Cougars have raised the bar for expectations something the Prince George fans should welcome and embrace.
From the Quote Rack:
Jordan Spieth’s 12th hole Sunday at the Masters might have been worst the few minutes for a top golfer in recent history not involving an Escalade.
Contributor Janice Hough of Palo Alto, California www.leftcoastsportsbabe.com
A Brooklyn man set a Guinness record for watching TV for 94 consecutive hours—it would’ve been longer, except that the Nets didn’t have any time outs in those last two minutes.
Contributor Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, California
A world record number for single day sales at an event was achieved Wednesday night when $1.2 million of merchandise was sold at Staples Arena. It’s unclear how much of it was purchased by Kobe himself.
Comedy writer TC Chong of Vancouver http://alwaysfunny.com/
And in case you missed it:
Toronto was accused of losing on purpose to improve its odds in the NHL draft lottery. Who says coaching the Leafs is a tankless job?
Comedy writer RJ Currie www.Sportsdeke.com
Hartley Miller is the sports director and morning news anchor for 94.3 the Goat. He also is the 94.3
radio color commentator for P.G. Cougars home games. His column appears Fridays on
myprincegeorgenow.com. Send along a quote, note, or anecdote to [email protected]
Follow him on twitter: @Hartley_Miller
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