The Olds Grizzlys embarked on a new direction in the coaching department last week with the resignation of head coach Kevin Willison on Nov. 28.
Brett Hopfe, who served as assistant coach for two-and-a-half seasons, was given the interim head coach's job by the team's board of directors.
Hopfe said he wants the Grizzlys to be a hard-working team that gives the opposition all it can handle. Defence will be a big priority.
“Guys now have roles. Guys know what each player in the dressing room expects out of them, so they're going to be held accountable, not only by myself, but by the guys in the room, too,” he said.
“We're going to start in our own zone first and work our way out. If we can keep the puck out of our net and score one goal, we'll be happy. We're definitely going to be a team that's hard to play against,” Hopfe said.
Another key priority for each player's future will be to use the contacts the coaching and training staff have to promote them to universities and colleges, especially in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the large U.S. post-secondary sports organization.
Hopfe said the goal he has set for the team is to get to the .500 mark by the end of the season and make the playoffs.
“If we reach .500 we'll be on a pretty good roll going into playoffs,” he said.
Asked if that was a reasonable goal (the team was 9-19-0-3, prior to this weekend's play), Hopfe was confident the Grizzlys could do that.
“I think this team's shown a lot. I think (in November) we struggled, but we had a lot of key guys out of the lineup. As guys are filtering back into the lineup, things are going to change,” he said.
Jim Ross, president of the Grizzlys, said Hopfe will be the coach and head of hockey operations until the end of the season, at which point a review will be conducted.
Ross said he hopes players will be working hard and improving their skills until the end of the season. He said with the return of Brandon Clowes and defenceman Brendan Algeo (who has yet to play a game this season), the team should round into form.
Scouting is also high on the team's list, to bring in a few more top players to fill out the lineup.
“That was a top priority for (Hopfe) and (the coaching staff) were having discussions about how they might go about that,” he said.
"Guys know what each player in the dressing room expects out of them, so they're going to be held accountable, not only by myself, but by the guys in the room, too."Brett Hopfe, head coach, Olds Grizzlys
