Struch not worried about history repeating
REGINA Despite how it may appear on the surface, Dave Struch doesn’t feel like he’s walking into another no-win situation.
Struch was introduced Thursday as the Regina Pats’ new bench boss after spending four years as their lead assistant under head coach and general manager John Paddock, who’s now moving into a full-time GM role.
Struch has a huge challenge ahead as he takes over a team in transition after Regina played host to the 2018 Memorial Cup.
The situation has a number of similarities to the one he faced five years ago with the Saskatoon Blades, who were in the early stages of a major rebuild after playing host to the 2013 Memorial Cup. Veteran head coach/gm Lorne Molleken moved upstairs following the 2012-13 season and Struch was promoted to head coach, only to be fired after just one season.
“Obviously there’s some really close similarities (but) the ownership group there had just taken over,” noted Struch. “It was a oneyear experiment with me. (With the Pats) we’ve had an opportunity to work together for four years.”
The Blades clearly put Struch in a tough spot given the decimated state of their roster and the presence of new owners who wanted to put their own stamp on the franchise.
Struch, a longtime Blades assistant, spent seven years working under former owner Jack Brodsky, who promoted Struch just before he sold the team to the Priestner family in the summer of 2013.
“It was very special and family oriented (under Brodsky) and it’s the same thing here,” noted Struch, a former Blades player. “It’s about the process (after the Memorial Cup). It has a bit of a different feel (now) because of guys like Jake Leschyshyn and Nick Henry coming back, those types of leaders. We’re going to have some good 19-yearolds that are (hard) workers, great character guys, great attitudes. We were a lot younger team (in Saskatoon) than we’re going to be here. That’s a big takeaway.”
Struch guided the Blades to a 1651-2-3 record in his lone season at the helm. Despite the team’s limitations, it was generally regarded as one of the hardest-working groups in the league under his direction.
The Blades have now gone five straight years without making the playoffs and recently hired their fourth head coach over that period. However, Struch isn’t gloating. Although it didn’t end well, he looks back fondly on his time with the Blades and cherished the opportunity to work under Molleken.
“I owe a lot of credit to Lorne,” said Struch. “I was very fortunate just as I was here with John. Both coaches allowed me to be a head coach without the head coach title. Most assistant coaches don’t get that opportunity. John let me do that from Day 1. That becomes a really big reason why I am who I am today.”
Struch has developed such a close relationship with Paddock that he now calls him his “best friend.” They’ll continue to work side by side with the goal of bringing the team back to where it was for the past two seasons — competing for championships.
“There’s not a whole lot of change but a whole lot of excitement,” Struch added. “In Saskatoon I wanted to implement a lot of my own new ideas. Here there won’t be a lot of new ideas. We’ve had some good success here with the stuff we’ve created as a coaching staff so we just need to build off that.
“It becomes a seamless transi-