The Yorkton Terriers announced they have signed Head Coach and General Manager Mat Hehr to a new deal.聽
鈥淲e鈥檝e agreed to a new two-yyear plus an option year contract with Mat,鈥� said team President Corvyn Neufeld.聽
鈥淲e felt it was important to have continuity and stability at that position. We felt it was especially important, given that we are still in the midst of a pandemic, that we have our coach and general manager in place to make sure that as soon as we can play hockey, we are ready to go 鈥�
Neufeld said Hehr has already shown he can build a competitive team.
鈥淥ur board of directors is very pleased with the job Mat has done,鈥� said Neufeld. 鈥淗is record as a coach has improved each year that he has led this team.聽
:We made a really nice run in the playoffs in 2018/19 beating Nipawin in the quarter finals and then losing to Battlefords in the semi鈥檚.聽
鈥淲e won our division in 2019/20 and were getting ready for a deep playoff run before the season was canceled due to COVID.聽
鈥淗e鈥檚 worked hard building our list of prospects.聽
鈥淎nd, he handled all the uncertainties of this past season very well.聽
鈥淲e believe he鈥檚 a great coach and GM and are excited about our future with him at the helm.鈥�
Hehr joined the club in 2016 as an assistant coach and took over as head coach and general manager midway through the 2017/18 season.
From Hehr鈥檚 perspective a return was a natural one.
鈥淚 wanted to stay in Yorkton and am really happy we were able to get a deal done now,鈥� said Hehr.聽
鈥淣ow I can focus on getting our coaching staff in place and continue the job of getting players committed to joining us next season.鈥�
Hehr said building a team in the midst of a pandemic will be a different process.
鈥淩ecruiting has been really different this year, because you can鈥檛 go watch guys play.聽
鈥淏ut, we can watch video and there are other great scouting tools we are using.聽
鈥淚鈥檓 excited about the players we have returning and the young guys committed to coming here in the fall.鈥�
Neufeld added that while there are still lots of uncertainties about what the coming season will hold, the team is planning and preparing as if hockey will be back in September.
鈥淲e鈥檙e so looking forward to having hockey back and seeing our fans back in the arena,鈥� he said.
