BLADES NAME NEW COACH
Mitch Love’s tattoos tell hockey tale
Mitch Love’s hockey career is inked onto his skin: Borders and land masses, with small X’s here and there. It starts at the left wrist, and runs up over the elbow.
The Saskatoon Blades’ new head coach said Wednesday that the tattoo is a work in progress, and he launched a quick tour of the arm for a curious questioner.
“That’s Saskatchewan right there,” he said, pointing to the familiar shape, with an X in the southern part to denote a previous hockey stop.
“It’s the province, and all the states I’ve played pro hockey in. My family’s birthdates, the co-ordinates of my hometown in Quesnel, B.C., a pit bull dropping the hockey gloves, when I was a little bit younger and not so wise. And then I’ve got my daughter’s birth date up here (higher on the arm), with a coach’s whistle at the top.”
Love is a tough guy, a character, a self-described student of the game. He’s 33 years old, born the same year as Blades general manager Colin Priestner. He racked up 327 penalty minutes one season with the Swift Current Broncos.
Love put both his stick and fists to work as a defenceman in three different WHL cities, and professionally in Lowell, Albany, Lake Erie, Johnstown, Houston, Peoria and Shreveport.
The Blades hired him away from the Everett Silvertips, where he’s spent seven years as an assistant coach. Priestner says everybody he talked to gave glowing reviews. The consensus is that it’s time for Love to be a head coach.
“It’s January 12, and it’s minus-30, and we’ve played five games in 12 nights. It’s a grind,” Priestner told reporters Wednesday. “You need someone that’s going to keep you on your toes a little bit — make you laugh, or make you (say), ‘Oh, what’s Mitch going to do today?’ There’s a little bit of that unpredictability, and I think it’s great. Personality is huge to getting kids to buy into what you’re doing.”
Love, whose Silvertips advanced to this year’s WHL final, joins a franchise that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2013. That’s five straight seasons, though Saskatoon’s win total over that span has grown from 16 to 19 to 26 to 28 to 35.
They went 35-33-3-1 this past season, and fired head coach Dean Brockman immediately after the campaign ended.
“I had some guys who had been NHL head coaches reach out, they were maybe 55, 60 years old, and they’re kind of like, ‘Yeah, I’d love to finish out my career there,’ ” Priestner said. “We’re not there. We want a young, hungry guy. Not to say you can’t be a hungry 60-year-old former NHL coach, but we wanted someone with passion, that’s going to be dying to make his name here, and hang a banner up there. It’s been a long time since a banner’s been hung up there.”
Love met with the Blades brass at the airport in Vancouver in the midst of the team’s playoff run, with the blessing of the Silvertips. They formally reached an agreement Tuesday — it’s a four-year contract, with a team option for a fifth season.
“I take a lot of pride in being detailed,” said Love, who was a fan favourite while slugging his way through various minor-pro stops, mostly in the American Hockey League.
“I take a lot of pride in my organization. What’s our daily plan look like? What’s that process look like? How are we going to get there? As you guys will come to know over time, I’ve got a ton of personality. I’m passionate about everything I do. I get a little fiery on the bench at times, but I want our players to play with that kind of jam, too.”
Priestner calls Love “one of the best young coaches in the country ” and talks about the discipline his teams play with — something, he notes, that you might not expect from a guy who racked up 1,835 penalty minutes in 645 junior and pro games, but there you go. Priestner’s expectations for the 2018-19 season, and beyond, are high.
“We know there’s going to be some teams in our division who are losing nine or 10 players; we’re losing two or three,” Priestner said. “Some of our best players are coming into their primes now. I’m not going to throw any expectations out as to what place we’re going to finish. We have internal goals. But I can tell you they’re a lot higher than they’ve been.”
That’s fine with Love.
“I’ve seen the numbers,” he said. “I’ve seen the stats. I’m coming (from) a franchise that’s been able to be competitive the last five years, and I want to keep that rolling here in Saskatoon.”