The Olds Grizzlys may not have had a successful season when it comes to wins and losses, but head coach-GM Joe Murphy says they've built a foundation for a good future with the players they've acquired.
As of late last week, the Grizzlys were last in the Alberta Junior Hockey League's Viterra South division with six wins, 47 losses and three overtime losses in 56 games.
"Our season: the elephant in the room. The wins and losses.
"I can say from me to everyone in our room: it's not what we planned, it's not what we hoped. It certainly hasn't been something we've accepted at any point," Murphy said during the team's awards banquet Feb. 15 at the Pomeroy Inn & Suites.
Murphy said the goal when he became head coach-GM was to "get the culture right."
"I believe that if you have good people in the room and you have proper culture, the winning will find its own way," he said.
"We had to start where we had to move some guys out. There were some good people there; we got good people back.
"And when you have kids who ask you for video, you have culture right. When you have kids who show up early daily for practice, you have culture right.
"When you have a group that lines up with 120 games of junior hockey experience before this year against a league average of seven or eight hundred and they fight like our guys do, you have culture right.
"We got that right ... so thanks to the guys for that," he said, sparking loud applause.
