Skyhawks introduce new coach

New Skyhawks Head Coach Ian Swalucynski addresses the media for the first time during Wednesday's press conference held at Memorial Gardens. Photo by Chris Dawson.

It seemed like a match made in heaven when Darren Turcotte was officially named the new Skyhawks head coach in June of 2006 – replacing the outgoing Kevin Kerr.

But that dream matchup has literally turned into a nightmare for the Turcotte who felt he lost his team even though his club was first in the NOJHL standings.

“It was wearing me down to the point where I was having sleepless nights,” Turcotte said about the past six weeks.

“If I wasn’t able to get the players to the top of their game then I wasn’t being fair to the players. I put the blame on myself and as soon as I did that I felt I had to move on.”

Skyhawks General Manager Guy Blanchard sympathized with Turcotte’s situation which he related back to his final season behind the bench – when the Skyhawks fell short hosting the Dudley-Hewitt Cup back in 2004.

“I lost my confidence getting the troops going and I needed to step away which is what I did,” Blanchard said during Wednesday’s media conference.

“So for Darren for he tried when he felt he had to try in the past 6 weeks and he felt he couldn’t get it done and that’s the decision he’s made and it’s tough to change its like a player who wants to leave the hockey club and he’s packed his bags and he’s leaving out the door.”

Coaching not easy

Turcotte’s coaching life has been a challenge.

The 39-year-old retired in 1999 from the Nashville Predators and basically formed a Midget Triple A program from scratch and after four years of bringing a Midget A team from 120th in the U.S.A. to number 39 (in four seasons) the former Centennial was told that the program that he created was folding. His final job was to find spots across the U.S. for the players that no longer had a team to play on. Turcotte then moved on to Abitibi in February of 2006 and coached the Eskimos for a short time before being told longtime head coach Paul Gagne was returning to the position shortly after the team was eliminated from the playoffs in a first round match against the Skyhawks.

Then last season Turcotte led the Skyhawks to a 6th place finish in the NOJHL and an early second round exit in the playoffs.

Despite that bumpy coaching road Turcotte insists he has no regrets coming back home.

“Absolutely none at all,” said Turcotte.

“I’ve had a great time behind the bench and I enjoy being on the ice I enjoy being with the players I enjoy seeing them develop unfortunately it just wasn’t working out the way I thought it would and it was probably the second hardest decision I’ve had to make – the first being when I had to retire from the NHL and let my teammates know that my playing days were over. But I just hope I get another chance to help the team out and only time will tell. “

Turcotte admits he'd like to stay on as an assistant coach but Turcotte believes that decision will be up to the new coach and the players.

The New Guy

Becoming a new head coach in this manner was certainly awkward for Ian Swalucynski, but the Thunder Bay native is hoping his no nonsense approach behind the bench will allow the Skyhawks to remain on top of the league standings.

“I like my teams to be high intense in your face with obviously discipline and I like to put every game as a war – we want to win all of our wars, we want to be on the puck faster and harder than the team that we play,” said Swalucynski during the press conference.

Swalucynski insists he isn’t intimidated by the situation he’s in, even though he may not be a high profile local hiring compared to the likes of Randy Edmonds, Kevin Kerr and Turcotte before him.

“As far as pressure I wouldn’t be in this job if I couldn’t handle it,” he said.

“I feel I can (handle it), I’ve been where Darren was and it feels like your banging your head off the wall and if the guys aren’t listening they aren’t listening so it’s a challenge and it’s why we are all in this business.”

The Skyhawks players still have a week to get accustomed to the new coaching environment. The Skyhawks visit Sudbury for a re-match against the Jr. Wolves next Wednesday.