Nate Bedford has heard nothing but good things about the Battlefords North Stars.
Now he鈥檒l get to experience that first hand.
The 36-year old native of Peterborough, Ont. was announced on Tuesday morning as the new head coach and general manager for the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League club.
鈥淓veryone that I had talked to who had been in North Battleford or had played for the team had great things to say about the team and how much they loved their experience there,鈥� Bedford said.
鈥淚 had watched a lot of the SJHL games during the playoffs this year and it was some of the best hockey that I had seen in Canada. It looked like a great fit for me and my family and I was fortunate enough to be hired by the North Stars.鈥�
Bedford had spent the last four seasons with the Keyano College Huskies program in Fort McMurray, Alta., where he has the head coach for the last two years.
He will be taking over from Kevin Hasselberg, who had spent five seasons with the team before being hired as the general manager and head coach for the 麻豆视频ern Professional Hockey League鈥檚 Pensacola Ice Flyers.
鈥淗is work ethic is very similar to Kevin鈥檚,鈥� North Stars president Troy Slywka said. 鈥淗e knows the game well and he had a very strong passion for it.
鈥淗e showed that in Fort McMurray and he鈥檒l bring that to our program as well. Having come from the college ranks and having recruited many of the players that have come through our league, he鈥檒l bring that point of view to our organization and that will be a great asset.鈥�
A former netminder for the Ontario Junior Hockey League鈥檚 Linsday Muskies and a one time video coach with the National Hockey League鈥檚 Ottawa Senators under the late Roger Neilson, Bedford played a key role in helping to turn around the Huskies program.
He led the team to its best ever season last year as they won a bronze medal in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference.
鈥淲e went through a rebuilding process up there to build towards becoming a championship team,鈥� Bedford said. 鈥淲e weren鈥檛 the most skilled team in the world but we had a lot of character guys with good size that battled hard, which is something I sought out when I was recruiting.
鈥淲e were a six-win team the year before I became the head coach and then we finished in sixth in my first year in charge before winning a bronze medal last year. We were recruiting to win a championship and we really felt like we had had the pieces in place to contend this season.鈥�
All of that planning came to a halt in April when the school dropped the men鈥檚 hockey program in a cost-cutting move.
In addition to finding a new coaching opportunity, Bedford also had to deal with another hardship as the house he lived in with his wife and young son burned to the ground during the Fort McMurray wildfire in May.
鈥淗aving those two things happen in a pretty short span was a tough challenge to go through,鈥� Bedford said. 鈥淢y wife and I had put a lot of time into the college so to see the program go away was tough and then to lose your house and see so many people in the community go through that tragedy was hard.
鈥淲e had talked about those challenges here the other day and we are fortunate as a family to get a win here with this opportunity.鈥�
Bedford will arrive in North Battleford late Wednesday evening with his first public appearance being at the team鈥檚 golf classic at the Jackfish Lake Golf and Conference Centre Friday.
His hiring is one of two announced by the North Stars in the last week.
Caitlyn Gray joined the team on Friday as the new marketing and office manager as she replaced the outgoing Trent Cey.
In other SJHL news, the Weyburn Red Wings have made assistant coach Wes Rudy their new head coach while Tanner McCall is the team鈥檚 new general manager after being the assistant general manager and head scout for the club last year.
Bryce Thoma filled both of those roles before joining the Western Hockey League鈥檚 Saskatoon Blades as an assistant coach last month.
