The lede on the news release said it all: 鈥淭he Victoria Cougars do not rebuild, they reload.鈥�
The statement can be taken in various ways in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League, obviously a positive for the perennial powerhouse 鈥� which is set to begin defence of its league title tonight 鈥� and, just as clearly, a negative from the opposition.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to have their usual depth. They always do. They obviously run a good program and they have that culture of winning, which always helps. There is no replacing that,鈥� said Saanich Braves head coach Brad Cook.
The Braves will provide the opposition tonight at 7 at Archie Browning Sports Centre. Saanich is 2-0 to start the 2016-17 campaign, while it鈥檚 first time out for the Cougars, who are a much different looking team.
鈥淭hey were fortunate enough to go out and spend some big money and purchased four or five high-end players out of our league, which always helps,鈥� said Cook. 鈥淭hey purchased four of Nanaimo鈥檚 best players and they took Peninsula鈥檚 top 20-year-old, all in cash deals, so it must be nice to have that luxury and that鈥檚 going to make them tough right out of the gates.鈥�
Obviously, the moves are a plus for the Cougars鈥� program, but at the same time, they stir emotions among opponents.
Cougars goaltender Anthony Ciurro and forwards Kenny Britton, Liam Kinshella, Dom Kolbeins, Jordan Passmore, Akila Sato-Gaudreau and James Scott are all back from last season. Victoria has lost the likes of Nathan Looysen and Nico Somerville to the BCHL鈥檚 Victoria Grizzlies and Cody Hodges has also moved on.
So the Cougars went out and acquired forwards Owen Dalman and Nick Gomerich as well as defencemen Jake Calverley and Mitch Popp from Nanaimo. Later they added forward Kyle Wade from the Comox Valley Glacier Kings and to cap it, signed defenceman Tyler Pang and corralled forward Grayden Hohl from Peninsula.
But they were also thrown a curveball when head coach Mark Van Helvoirt surprisingly stepped down on Tuesday.
鈥淧ersonally, we鈥檙e trying to catch up on the logistics of the move, but we still have the goal of competing with every team in the league,鈥� said new head man Suneil Karod, who was Van Helvoirt鈥檚 assistant for seven years. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a big pair of shoes to fill, but Mark and I are not the same person.
鈥淚 obviously want to win. There鈥檚 a lot to learn for the players and we鈥檙e still going to develop the team as we normally have. The goal is to win the gold medal. That鈥檚 getting tougher and tougher every year in this league.鈥�
The additions make it easier though. Gomerich has major junior and Junior A experience.
鈥淐alverley is a veteran with big talent for us. Hohl from Peninsula will put pucks in the net. He鈥檚 one of those kids that can naturally score and Kyle Wade is a point-a-game guy,鈥� said Karod.
But don鈥檛 discount the Braves, who are well into their rebuild. They are coming off home-and-home wins against Peninsula.
鈥淚 came into the room [Tuesday] and the guys were sitting around quietly and I said to them: 鈥楤oys, put some music on. We鈥檙e in first place,鈥� 鈥� Cook said with a chuckle.
鈥淚鈥檓 expecting our core group, which we鈥檝e had for three or four years to elevate their game,鈥� said the veteran coach. 鈥淵ou need those guys to go out and win games for you at times and that happened in the first two games. That experience paid off for us.鈥�
Cook expects to be led by the likes of Scott Henderson, Quinn Miller, Mackenzie Valentine, Connor Birmingham, Evan Badry and Nick Guerra. The latter played as a 16- and 17-year-old for the Braves and has returned for his 20-year-old season.
Guerra had five goals and two assists in the first two games.
Cook could also have a talented pair of 16-year-olds in Ted Brennan, who just returned from Kelowna Rockets camp, and Quinton Waitzner, who remains in Swift Current for now.
Twitter.com/tc_vicsports
