The Yorkton Harvest have made a coaching change. Following two seasons in which he has steered the ship in the right direction, Manitoba-born Graham Garrett has decided to step down as coach of the second-highest ranked hockey team in Yorkton.
The decision was made at the end of the current season.
The announcement came during a busy Saturday afternoon at Yorkton's premier entertainment complex, the Gallagher Centre.
Sandwiched in between a men's curling bonspiel, and the Yorkton Junior Terriers pursuit of another championship run, the Yorkton AAA Harvest occupied the Wellington West Room upstairs.
Their celebration included the naming of the new team head coach, Harvest assistant coach Jeff Odgers, as well as the naming of all 15 awards given out, honouring the Harvest best from the season.
Team president Garth Simms made the news public at the banquet and said Garrett will be missed, particularly for the work he did in turning the team into a playoff contender two seasons straight after having won only 11 matches all season long in 2008-2009.
Simms thanked Garrett for his efforts and said that because Midget hockey operations is usually a job that never ends, said "recruiting begins immediately".
The naming of Odgers as new head coach was something that had to happen quickly.
"It's imperative that we move forward immediately."
Odgers, who is a retired pro hockey player who spent over 800 games in the NHL with San Jose, Boston, Colorado and Atlanta. He was captain of the Sharks in 1995-96 and also played 61 games with the same team during their inaugural season in 1991.
He spent the 2008-09 season as the trainer for his son John's team, the Kinsmen Midget AA Terriers and he coached the Bantam AA Terriers of the same league.
Most recently, he was one of Garrett's right-hand men this past season.
His new job taking over for Garrett has already started, he said.
He said he is most looking forward to working with the players and being at the rink everyday.
"It's everyday interaction. Get the systems set up and get the best out of all the players."
The job also starts today.
"It started today," he told the media following the presentation of various team awards.
He attended a Zone camp held in Regina where Bantam-aged players from all over the province were in action.
Garrett said the decision he made to step down was not an easy one to make and that he remains unsure where his future in hockey lies, if any.
He said the move was made to let him put more time into his "existing jobs".
"It's not an easy decision to make (but) I've been around the game long enough to know when it's time to go."
Garrett took over a team with an unimpressive win-loss record, and things didn't get much better in his first season when his team won only 11 games in 2008-09. In his second year, he named Riley Storzuk the new team captain, picked a bunch of young, flashy kids from the spring camp that year and put together a team that qualified for the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League post season. They were downed by Prince Albert in five games, but the team continued to show signs of improvement and made the playoffs again in what was Garrett's final season coaching the team.
"I feel strongly that it was time (to go)."
Garrett added that the best part of the coaching job was watching "the development of some of the players."
Garrett had helped to put several players into the higher level of hockey during his time here the past two seasons, including Taylor Thompson (Prince George Cougars) and Damon Severson (Kelowna Rockets); several others are mainstays on various SJHL teams.
