Marc Habscheid, this is your life.
At least the sa国际传媒 portion of it.
The flashback journey has taken the Prince Albert Raiders head coach through Kamloops and a 5-2 loss against a Blazers club he once coached and Kelowna on Saturday and a 7-1 loss to a Rockets club he coached to the 2004 Memorial Cup national title. Then his Raiders drove through the Fraser Valley, where he guided the Chilliwack Bruins for two seasons.
Tonight he is back on the Island, where he coached the Victoria Royals in their inaugural season in 2011-12 after the franchise moved from Chilliwack.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the hockey business,鈥� he said.
鈥淵ou are always in transition in this business. That鈥檚 the way it is. You remember the people more than anything else.鈥�
Habscheid tonight gets a look at what Royals coach Dave Lowry and GM Cam Hope have done with the franchise in the five seasons since inheriting it from him. Victoria, the defending WHL regular-season champion, is 11-8-2.
Habscheid, meanwhile, brings in a rebuilding Prince Albert team that is 5-13-1 and tied with Kootenay Ice for last place in the entire league.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a work in progress, without doubt,鈥� said Habscheid.
With top 2015-16 players Jesse Lees (Mount Royal) and Jordan Tkatch (University of Saskatchewan) graduated to the the U Sports ranks, the Raiders are now built around blue line standout Brendan Guhle, a second-round draft pick of the Buffalo Sabres.
鈥淸Guhle] eats up ice and is one of the best skaters I have seen in this league,鈥� said Habscheid.
But it didn鈥檛 help the Raiders鈥� cause when sniper Reid Gardiner, who had 43 goals and 92 points last season and was expected back as a 20-year-old, instead signed a pro contract with Wilkes Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.
鈥淩eid made guys around him better,鈥� said Habscheid.
The Raiders then went all-in on the rebuild by trading 20-year-old goaltender Rylan Parenteau to the Tri-City Americans for a third-round WHL bantam draft pick. That leaves all the burden on the shoulders of 18-year-old creaseman Ian Scott. He is a promising one. Scott is projected for the second or third rounds of the 2017 NHL draft. But this season has been an ordeal by vulcanized rubber.
Prince Albert, indeed, jumped into the future skates first in 2015 when they traded German powerhouse Leon Draisaitl and talented blue-liner Josh Morrissey, now both in the NHL, to the Rockets in exchange for high bantam draft picks.
Royals fans will remember that move well since Kelowna used the dramatic late-season addition of Draisaitl and Morrissey to beat Victoria in the second round of the playoffs en route to the 2015 Memorial Cup championship game.
That trade is already paying off for Prince Albert. Those high-round bantams acquired in the deal are now 16-year-old Raiders rookie forwards Carson Miller and Spencer Moe. Prince Albert used its own first-round bantam pick that year on Cole Fonstad, who is another 16-year-old rookie forward now on the team. This could pay off handsomely for Prince Albert, but it is going to take some time and lots of growing pains.
鈥淲e are steadily working and building,鈥� said Habscheid.
鈥淥ur record is not great this season but we are a close-knit bunch.鈥�
And one likely with a future.
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