The Nelson Leafs have announced that former Leafs assistant coach Frank Maida will be back behind the bench but this time, as head coach and general manager.
“The call was totally unexpected. It happened just under a week ago, and it caught me off guard, I needed a few days for it to sink in and for Jackie and I to think about it and talk about it. We’re excited that I’m taking on the challenge,” said Maida.
He said that he is hoping to bring back the same coaching philosophy that was present when he and former Leafs head coach Simon Wheeldon worked together.
For five years, he worked with Wheeldon as the assistant coach. He took the last year off of coaching hockey.
“My philosophy basically is that we will be the hardest working team on the ice, show respect to all the players on the ice, and we will be a very well disciplined team,” said Maida.
He said that there will be challenges going into next season.
“We will need to work on getting last year’s team under a new philosophy that we’re going to bring in and get them used to playing under a new system,” said Maida.
He will have high goals for the team and high expectations for the players both on and off the ice.
Maida began coaching minor hockey in 1996 and coached minor hockey for six years.
“I grew up playing hockey and loved the game and wanted to give back to the community and give back to minor hockey,” he said.
The Leafs are still looking for an assistant coach to join the team behind the bench.
“Nothing has been confirmed yet. We are in the process of talking to a few people, and we will probably make a decision next week,” said Maida.
Leafs president Russell Stocks broke the news yesterday evening stating that Maida would assume his new role effective immediately.
“Frank has demonstrated his leadership both on and off the ice over several seasons as the assistant coach and we are confident he will build on these successes as the head coach,” said Stocks in the email announcement.
Former Leafs head coach Chris Shaw announced that he would be leaving his position to be assistant coach for the BCHL Vernon Vipers.