OLDS — Matt McKnight’s crash course in coaching continues.
A year removed from retiring as a player, the head coach of the Olds College Broncos women’s hockey team was behind the bench for team South Green during lthe Alberta Challenge.
“I think it is a great opportunity to continue getting experience behind the bench,” he said.
“Short term competition is much different from a normal hockey season like we have in the ACAC (Alberta Collegiate Athletic Conference), but still I think it is a valuable experience.”
The Alberta Challenge features 120 female hockey players born in 2008 and 2009 who were registered with a Hockey Alberta or Hockey Canada sanctioned program this season.
Those players were then split up into six teams, three from the north and three from the south, following regional camps held in April in Cochrane and Beaumont.
McKnight also had a familiar face on the bench at the Challenge, as Broncos women’s hockey captain Jesse Jack was a late addition to the South Green coaching staff as an assistant coach.
“Obviously, from this past season, we know each other very well,” he said.
“Jesse as a player was such a good leader for our team and did an outstanding job at bringing our group at Olds College together. In this short-term tournament, team-building is paramount, so I will be relying on Jesse for this.”
Jack is an Alberta Challenge alumnus herself as she played in the tournament in 2015, where Trina Radcliffe, the athletics manager for the Broncos, served as her team’s director of operations.
“It’s been fun learning from Matt not only as a player but now also as a coach,” Jack said of McKnight.
“He has lots of knowledge when it comes to the game. I think it will be interesting to be able to take what I learned from him as a player and hopefully add value to the coaching staff at the challenge.”
Even with the condensed scouting process, McKnight doesn’t think the Challenge has changed his views on player evaluation.
“I know what qualities I want to see in my players, and this does not change,” he said. “The one big difference for the Challenge is such a limited viewing time before having to make a judgment on what you see in players.”
McKnight credits the coaches he had while playing with the DEL’s Bietigheim Steelers in Germany for helping shape his coaching philosophy.
“With having many coaches over my playing career, you can also see what you liked from them or what worked and maybe use it,” he said.
“Also, if there was something that you did not like as a player, then you can file that away and try and make sure as a coach you don't make the same mistakes.”
Along with his family, McKnight recently returned to Bietigheim as the Steelers officially retired his number 39 after spending nine seasons with the club and helping them earn a promotion from DEL-2 to the DEL.
“Quite humbling when a team considers you for this,” he said of the honour. “In my time playing in Bietigheim we had some great players and great teams, without good teammates this would never have been a possibility.”
Geordie Carragher is the Olds College sports Information and Esports coordinator.
