Herd fire Midgley
Memorial Cup-hosting Halifax will have fourth head coach in four seasons
The Halifax Mooseheads have let Jim Midgley go after just one season as head coach.
Midgley posted a 43-18-6-1 record and a fourth overall finish in the regular season.
He also guided the Mooseheads to a first-round playoff win over the Baie-Comeau Drakkar before being swept in the second round by the Charlottetown Islanders.
“This was very difficult,” said Mooseheads general manager Cam Russell. “We’ve been friends for a long time and he’s been with the organization for a long time. We just felt, as an organization, it was the right decision moving forward and moving into such an important season.”
Winning the right to host the 2019 Memorial Cup played a part in the team’s decision to make a switch.
“We worked very hard to get the Memorial Cup and we don’t know when the next time it’ll be in Halifax so we want to do everything right,” Russell said. “It was a really tough decision for Jim but we wanted to make sure we’ve got a little bit more experience behind the bench.”
This was Midgley’s first head coaching job at the major junior level. He spent six seasons as a Mooseheads assistant coach before being promoted a year ago.
Goalie coach Eric Raymond and assistant coaches Jon Greenwood and Sylvain Favreau will remain with the team. Midgley has one year remaining on his contract.
The search for Midgley’s replacement will begin immediately as the team will have its fourth head coach in as many seasons next year.
“There’s nobody waiting in the background, no coach that we’ve been talking to,” Russell said. “We made this decision first and now we move on to the next step and look for a replacement.”
Russell was in Montreal for a Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) scouting event so Mooseheads majority owner Bobby Smith delivered the bad news to Midgley on Wednesday morning.
Elsewhere, reports out of Quebec indicate Patrick Roy will be reintroduced today as head coach and general manager of the Remparts. Roy served in that role from 2005 to 2013 before leaving the QMJHL to coach the Colorado Avalanche. He parted ways with the Avs at the end of the 2015-16 season.
Philippe Boucher stepped down as Remparts head coach/ GM two weeks ago. He was in the job for the five seasons Roy was away from the franchise.