By Alan Watson – Surrey Eagles Reporter
As always in junior hockey circles, what a difference a year makes. In the case of the Surrey Eagles, that’s very good news for the fans. A year ago on opening day of the B.C. Hockey League season, it was, OK, what do we have here? Friday night at the South Surrey Arena, it is, OK, the BCHL championship is the only thing in the crosshairs from the minute the first puck is dropped.
“Last year we knew we had a decent nucleus, but we had missed the playoffs for three straight seasons and really had no idea what to expect. It worked out in the end,” notes owner Chuck Westgard of the 2017-18 squad which finished third in the BCHL’s Mainland Division to break the playoff drought. The team knocked off the Langley Rivermen in six games before losing to eventual BCHL finalist Prince George Spruce Kings in seven games, despite taking a 3-1 lead in the series. The Eagles, four-time league champions and RBC Cup winners in 1998, last participated in the RBC Cup in 2012-13, where they lost in overtime in a semifinal match.
“I don’t want to sound overconfident because we lost a lot of firepower,” continued Westgard. “But we believe we have picked up some top-end players, and made some significant moves to be one of the elite teams in the league. Until you play your first 10 to 15 games you don’t really know you’re missing but I do know that we are going to pull out all the stops to be the team that wins it in the end. As an owner I’m very excited with the management we have, the coaches we have and players we have going into opening night and we are only going to try and get better as the season progresses.”
One of those significant moves has already paid dividends because after the team’s first three exhibition games, the team and head coach Brandon West mutually agreed to part ways. Ready if not exactly waiting in the wings was his successor, former Eagles head coach Peter Schaefer.
“We had the opportunity this summer to bring Peter back as an assistant coach, which I thought was huge not only because of his previous coaching experience but because of his hockey experience, period. He commands respect right away,” said Westgard of the 13-year National Hockey League veteran. “As things transpired, with Brendon deciding to move on, the opportunity came to put Peter in charge. It just fell into our lap.”
“Then we were also able to bring back Brad Tobin, who coached here with Peter in 2013-14, which made for a natural fit. I know Brad’s very, very excited to be back here and we’re very happy to have both of them. So, that was another big change in the puzzle.”
Tobin spent the past two seasons with the Creston Valley Thunder Cats of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League, first as an assistant head coach and then as head coach/general manager.
For his part, Schaefer never saw his “promotion” coming, because he doesn’t necessarily consider it as being one. “It was something that I’ve done before so I wasn’t too concerned,” he said about taking on the role. “I was planning on coming and helping anyways, and to me whether you’re an assistant coach or a head coach or the GM, it doesn’t matter. They’re all just titles. It’s a good group that runs this team and I was going to be a part of it regardless. Now it just happens to be as head coach. And I’ve got Brad Tobin working with me, who I don’t consider an assistant coach—we’re both coaches, trying to teach and win hockey games this year. It was a little bit of a shock … but you never really know in the world of sport. Obviously, we’re both excited to be here and get the season started on Friday.”
As for what Schaefer hopes to see from the Eagles this season, “I think we’re going to score a lot of goals. We want to be a good transition team, we want to be fast because that’s the game especially on the big ice we have and half of our games at home. At the same time, on the road we want to have some grit for when we go onto the smaller rinks.”
As for his coaching style, “I think there’s a lot of room for learning obviously. You teach them as individuals, you teach them as lines, as five-man units, as four-man units, so it’s all the different things. But I think if you can get across to each individual that if they listen and do these things it will help them move onto the next level or next two levels or wherever they want to go. But like I said, each kid has to be taught differently and if you can read their personalities then you usually can get the most out of them because none of them are the same players, none of them are the same personalities, that’s just the way it is. Usually the best coaches can figure each kid out, and figure out how to handle them to get the most success.”
If there is anything that Schaefer isn’t it’s a my way or the highway guy. “I think as a coach you’ve got go with your personnel.” For example? “Running the powerplay. There are certain systems or powerplays you can run but you have to look and see if you have the right people for certain styles.”
The busiest man in the organization since that physically and emotionally draining loss to Prince George in the division final last spring was undoubtedly General Manager Blaine Neufeld. It fell onto his shoulders to replace what has amounted to nearly three-quarters of the lineup, and as Westgard noted, the GM gets a solid A for his efforts. However, Neufeld is quick to give credit where credit is due to West.
“I think it was a decision of his to make an adjustment in lifestyle and being closer to his family. I think he did a great job when he was here and he was part of our turnaround, absolutely,” said Neufeld, who himself coached the team during the 2015-17 seasons. “Brandon did a fabulous job of working with and motivating the kids when it was time to change the culture. I think he did that from Day One and we all really respect him from that. He also helped me a ton from the end of last season with our recruiting efforts.”
Not surprisingly, Neufeld also credited Westgard’s son, Ty, with being a key component in the player wars. “I think Ty was a big piece of recruiting some of these kids. You go up and down own new roster and you talk about a guy like Eric Linell, who we got in a trade from Coquitlam [for forward Chase Danol]. One of the things we let him know is that you’re going to be scoring a lot of goals playing alongside somebody like Ty, who led the league in assists last season,” and finished third overall in league scoring. “There are certain things that attract players and one is playing with good players, and I think that was just a positive snowball throughout the summer,” said Neufeld. “Then you start talking to guys like Corey Clifton in New Jersey and you start educating him on the quality he’s going to be playing alongside, and that’s appealing to somebody who has the amount of skill that he does. We want to complement each other as players and have them know that’s an intoxicating environment when you’re starting to work with guys who want it as bad as you do and possess that skill level and speed to keep up.”
Other key acquisitions this season include:
* Centre Matthew McKim, who Neufeld spent two years pursuing, and whom he describes as a much-sought after talent from St. Matthews College in Toronto, a top hockey prep school. “He’s just a true, playmaking, hockey sense type of player. He has been a real wow for us as in how quickly he’s adapted to this level and we’re excited to see the real stuff out of him starting Friday and Saturday and throughout the season because we think he can be a player who will probably be able to keep under the radar until suddenly he’s nearing the top of leading the team in points. He just quietly goes about doing things the right way and gets rewarded for them. I think our wingers will all be saying I want to play with him because he’s a guy who can make it happen for them, so he’s another player to watch for sure.”
* Winger Chase Stevenson, acquired from the West Kelowna Warriors in a trade for puck-moving defenseman Cory Babichuk. “We feel that Chase will quickly add to our scoring punch, our depth punch and our leadership. He’s a quality player and a quality kid that I think we can lean on early.”
* Defenseman Matthew Barnes. “Matthew comes in with a lot of Junior A experience and is just a real tough defenseman. Something that might be lost in today’s game is just precisely that, high quality defensive defenseman. That’s not to say he can’t chip in offensively, and I think he will, but his mojo out there is just to take care of his end. That’s the kind of player you are attracted to when you watch him you because you can respect him so quickly.”
Last season was a sea-change from the previous three seasons for the Eagles, but naturally there were weaknesses, inconsistent goaltending and a problematic powerplay being the main ones. To address the former, the Eagles acquired Seth Eisele from the league champion Wenatchee Wild. Last season Eisele, the prototypical big man (6’5”) in today’s goalie fraternity, posted a 20-11 record and three shutouts. Backing him up will be Daniel Davidson, a fifth-year Eagle whose game was much improved over the second half of last season.
It will fall on the new coaches to rectify last season’s powerplay inefficiencies, which were puzzling given that the Eagles could not only send Ty Westgard out on the first unit but also the now-graduated John Wesley, who tied for the league lead in goalscoring. “There are five guys on the ice on a powerplay but you just can’t throw five individuals out there that are skilled and expect them to produce,” said the new head coach. “You have to have plays and certain things that work. It’s two-on-ones all over the ice, you have to pull a guy to you and once you pull a guy to you you’re going to get a two-on-one which should be a good scoring opportunity. But we’re going to work on it and like I said, we’ve got great personnel now. It’s just about getting them all on the same page, given all the different options and plays you can run on the powerplay.”
One thing Schaefer knows is that while he’s confident “we’re going to score a lot of goals, you’ve still got to play defense. If you’ve got the puck the whole game it’s a lot easier playing in the other end of the ice. So, it’s about puck possession, and then making smart decisions with the puck. If you’re dumping the puck in, you have to dump it in to get it back for an offensive chance. If you make a bad dump it’s a turnover in the offensive zone and it gives them a chance to come and play in your end. We definitely want to take care of our own end but it’s just play your position, make your stops and starts and the puck will come to you and like I said we will then spend more time in the other end.”
The casual observer may not know that the BCHL is the leading Junior A in the country when it comes to graduating players into NCAA scholarships. Neufeld not only knows but revels in it. “The thing we are firstly very excited about this year is the fact that not one player from last year’s team isn’t going to be playing hockey this year. That’s a real staple of what we’re trying to do here, to move guys on, so we were successful in that.” Four 2017-18 Eagles—defensemen Jackson Ross and Owen Norton and forwards Desi Burgart and Jeffrey Stewart—are the team’s latest contributions to the NCAA ranks.
So, it’s not a new season but a new, or rather the good old Eagles fans can expect to see. Says Neufeld, “Over the past few years Surrey,” which traditionally had been a winning team, “wasn’t a desired destination and it was a lot of work to get back to where it is now. I think it’s people trusting your word and you making the effort to show that you really are interested in getting that young man to play for you, and then providing them a great opportunity to succeed. I think Chuck is one of those people who are all about the young men and are willing to do and give whatever is needed to give them that feeling that this is a first-class organization. Then what happens over time is the Matthew McKims tell their buddies how great this organization this is and that’s the ripple effect we’re seeing now. So it’s a different course now, where we’re having to say to no to really good players and really good people, or having to maybe move them out for different opportunities so that they can succeed before maybe moving onto college, to the point where they’re heartbroken leaving. It wasn’t that case four years ago when it was OK, I will try something else type of mentality. But now it’s heartbreaking because they see something special here, they want to be a part of it, and they’re treated so well.”
Speaking on behalf of the entire Eagles organization, Neufeld told local media earlier this week that as opposed to one year ago when making the playoffs was the first (in not only primary goal) when it comes to this season hoisting the Fred Page Cup as BCHL champions is the ultimate target “That’s a lofty goal for some but I think we’ve positioned ourselves to do that. The playoff experience, that was nice to have back in South Surrey. We have a lot of firepower, and our defence and goaltending is more sound this year. We’re expecting big things.”
Let the games begin.
