The Olds Grizzlys haven't arrived yet, but management likes where the team is going, signing head coach Dana Lattery to a contract for another two years.
Lattery had been with the team on a one-year deal – essentially a trial period to determine the right fit for the club – which has been typical practice, said the Grizzlys' president Shane Dixon.
"He's done amazing things building a winning culture and we feel his record doesn't do him justice," Dixon said.
Lattery said his extension allows the coaching staff to carry out its long-term plans.
"And that's reinstating the culture and bringing the Olds Grizzlys back to being one of the premier organizations in our league," he said.
In his first year behind the bench, Lattery's Grizzlys finished 16-40-4 in the regular season. They were swept by the Camrose Kodiaks.
But the season had its moments. Forwards Wyatt Noskey and Chase Olsen finished first and second respectively in the league scoring race. Riley Smith was named to NHL Central Scouting's watch list. Jack Goranson, Landon Kletke and James Miller all landed athletic scholarships at post-secondary schools.
Lattery acknowledges that one day, the Grizzlys will be evaluated based on the win-loss column. But not right now. What he wants is for his young squad to be "focusing on the route, not the fruit" during this rebuilding period.
"Even before you're winning on the ice, you're winning in the dressing room. You're getting the guys to do all the little things right as people before we can have the fruit of our labour and the production on the ice," he said.
"If we sit here, and every decision we make is to win one game in the playoffs, we'll fall so short of so many other things. Our goal is to prepare to be great athletes, prepare to be great humans and that's day in and day out.
“If we do that as a group, whether you're in the dressing room or sitting in the boardroom, we will get that home ice, we will get that first-round win, we will get that second round win."
The Grizzlys signed seven players coming out of midget AAA:
* 2000-born defenceman Kabe Bleay from Calgary
* 1998-born goaltender Andrew Henderson from Maple Ridge, B.C.
* 1998-born defenceman Tom Mealey from Calgary
* 1998-born defenceman Cole McIsaac from Fort Saskatchewan
* 1998-born defenceman Hayden Struik from Edmonton
* 1998-born forward Brad Girard from Slave Lake
* 1998-born forward James Orban from Calgary
With four of the signings being defencemen, Lattery said the team hopes to shore up its blue-line, which was hit hard by injuries in the latter part of the season.
"Even before you're winning on the ice, you're winning in the dressing room. You're getting the guys to do all the little things right as people before we can have the fruit of our labour and the production on the ice." DANA LATTERYHEAD COACHOLDS GRIZZLYS
