Desjardins achieves Olympic dream
Former Tigers coach proud of bronze medal finish in Pyeongchang
It wasn’t the golden finish he hoped for, but helping Canada to an Olympic medal is already one of Willie Desjardins’ proudest moments.
The former Medicine Hat Tigers coach flew home to the Gas City Monday, confident he did his best in helping both assemble and coach a non-NHL roster that earned bronze in Pyeongchang.
“I think it was a dream come true for lots of people, myself included,” said Desjardins. “I think when you get that opportunity, one thing you don't want to do is miss the opportunity. That's why the guys were so excited, they wanted to leave their mark for Canada.”
And they did, though nobody could have predicted the semifinal defeat to eventual silver medallist Germany.
Rebounding from the shocking loss culminated in a 6-4 win over the Czech Republic, and the coach will never forget what he saw on the bench as the seconds wound down.
“Those games were intense games,” he said. “I don't know if I've ever seen a group as excited on the bench as that group was in the (bronze medal) game.”
When the team was announced he talked of how excited many players were to get such a chance. For someone who had been fired by the Vancouver Canucks, the Hockey Canada job was a welcome next step in Desjardins’ career, too.
Along the way he reconnected with a lot of familiar faces.
First there was Dave King, who’d coached him at the University of Saskatchewan and was close by when Desjardins was an assistant coach with the University of Calgary in the late 1980’s. King, Canada’s head coach in the days before NHL involvement, would often organize scrimmages between the Dinos and Team Canada.
King was Desjardins’ assistant for this year’s team.
Linden Vey, who played for Desjardins’ Tigers and then with the Canucks, wound up on the Canadian team since he had moved to Russia to play in the KHL.
And in Canada’s last two games there were ex-Tigers on the opposite bench. Germany’s Yannic Siedenberg was part of the Tigers’ 2004 WHL championship team. Tomas Kundratek figured prominently in the Czech Republic’s defensive corps, and said farewell to the Tigers the same year Desjardins did in 2010.
“It was good to see them, they all made a point — Siedenberg and Kundratek — to come over which was really nice of them,” said Desjardins. “Really great guys, good hockey players who both played well at the tournament. “It was good to see them, they're really character people. They still have fond memories of Medicine Hat.”
As for what’s next, Desjardins has already seen a few of the Canadian Olympians sign NHL contracts. Captain Chris Kelly signed with Anaheim this week, while defenceman Cody Goloubef has signed a two-way (AHL) deal with the Calgary Flames.
Could be the same be in Desjardins’ future? It’s too early to tell.
“I think whenever you play on a stage like that it has an impact, good or bad,” he said. “It's a big stage and lots of people watch it. It remains to be seen how people sort themselves out from it, but there were some good performances and I think you'll see some players come back for sure, to North America.
“I'll wait and see. I do have to start looking to find something, but time will tell with that, it's pretty quick after the tournament.”
What he does know is that he’ll apply the same mantra to whatever’s next as he has in the past. Hard work comes first, second and third.
“I think from when you grow up on a farm, your job is to work as hard as you can,” said the 61-year-old Climax, Sask. native. “You don't know if it's going to rain or if anything else is going to come; it doesn't matter.
“All you can do is work as hard as you can, that's your part of it and that's how I approach my hockey. I control the things I can control and the other things, I can't worry about it.”