Training camp is still two and a half months away for the Prince George Cougars and there is already a buzz thanks to the hiring of a new Head Coach.
Richard Matvichuk was introduced as the franchise’s 12th Head Coach on Thursday and would like to re-establish some of the early success from last year.
“You have to be accountable not only to yourself but your teammates. Hockey is a small world and you have to be able to go to war with each other and for the first part of last year these guys were mentioned near the top 10 in Canada so we have to get that back.”
When asked what style he would like the team to play, Matvichuk answered the question like this.
“Defence wins championships but we want to score goals. Our forecheck is going to be aggressive and the days of sitting back in the 1-4 or 1-3-1 that will not be our team.”
General Manager, Todd Harkins believes the new hire will provide instant credibility with the players.
“When you walk in with an older group like ours, and he’s been able to accomplish what he has, he will be able to command respect in the dressing room right away which was important to me.”
Matvichuk joins the Cougars after spending the past two seasons as the bench boss of the ECHL’s Missouri Mavericks where he coached them to a 52-15-5 regular season record.
He also won a Stanley Cup as a player with the Dallas Stars in 1999.
Both Matvichuk and the Cougars agreed to a 3 year contract.
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