Druce guides another team to RBC Cup berth
John Druce is headed back to the RBC Cup national junior A hockey championships for a second straight year.
Last season the Peterborough native led the host Cobourg Cougars to their first RBC Cup national championship in his first year as a head coach.
A little more than a month into this season Druce, 52, who played 14 years of pro hockey, was unceremoniously dumped by Cobourg’s new management.
In January, Druce was hired by the Wellington Dukes to take over a first-place team that fired its coach and general manager for off-ice turmoil.
Druce guided the Dukes to the OJHL championship defeating the defending champion Georgetown Raiders in the final. Their playoff success included rallying from a 3-1 series deficit against Newmarket in round two.
The Dukes then travelled to Dryden, Ont., to participate in the Dudley Hewitt Cup Central Canadian Junior A Championship Tournament. They won the title on Saturday beating the host Dryden 7-4 to avenge their lone loss in the tournament and secure their RBC Cup berth in Chilliwack, B.C.
When asked if he felt vindicated after being fired in Cobourg, Druce said he doesn’t look at it that way.
“I just look at it as one door closed and another door opened,” Druce said.
“Getting the opportunity is what was exciting. The ownership and management in Wellington brought me in and welcomed me with open arms and it’s been amazing.”
It’s been a long road through the playoffs.
“This has been very rewarding,” Druce said. “The team has gone through four rounds of playoffs and a tournament and now we’re heading into another tournament. This is harder to win than the Memorial Cup, really, when you think of the time frame and what you have to go through. It’s very, very rewarding to see our team go through two seven-game series, playing the top team in our conference, playing the defending Buckland Cup champions in Georgetown and facing adversity going through it.
“We didn’t expect to go seven games against Pickering, we were up 2-0. We got down 3-1 against Newmarket and found a way to come back. It’s been a long, hard route but I think the adversity we faced has helped us to get this far.”
Druce took over a group that was slumping and not gelling.
“This team had a lot of skill and a lot of talent and I think what we’ve done, as a coaching staff, is teach them how to play a playoff style of game utilizing their talent,” he said. “I don’t think they were prepared to play playoff style hockey. I think that would be the biggest thing we’ve done as a coaching staff is to develop that part of the game. To teach them how to play tougher, playoff style hockey.”
He says the players have grown through the process.
“When you start having success it’s a little easier for the players to see that the team is more important than an individual. I think they’ve grown to see that,” he said.
Having guided Cobourg through the RBC Cup tournament he knows what to expect. They play each team once starting Saturday afternoon against the Ottawa Jr. Senators. Other teams include the host Chilliwack Chiefs, Wenatchee Wild and Steinbach Pistons. The top four advances to semifinals with the final on May 20.
“I know it’s going to be highquality hockey. It’s going to be fast. We have to execute what we do best,” he said. “We will prescout and see what tendencies the other teams have and be aware of key things they do and make sure the guys are all aware of it but, ultimately, it’s about executing what we do well.”