BROWN IS KINGS’ COACH AFTER CANAL RESIGNS
Team names assistant Trent Brown as new head coach after Ty Canal steps down from top job
AFTER A SUTHERLAND CUP win, Elmira Sugar Kings’ head coach Ty Canal decided to step down from the team’s coaching staff on a high note.
The Junior B hockey club announced the change to their coaching staff on May 12, but there will still be a familiar face behind the bench in Trent Brown, an assistant coach under Canal.
To spend more time with his young family, Canal is stepping aside after his first full season at the helm of the Sugar Kings. He says the team and the organization gave him a great season, making his job easy.
“It has been great. They are definitely a topnotch organization. They care about the players and when that happens, results kick in and that has happened,” said Canal. “They just want to see the players succeed and when you can get everyone on the same page, like we did this year, you can go far and watch the player raise the trophy. That is the end goal every year, and everyone has that mentality. It is easy to work with them. They make things easy. On my side, I just had to worry about coaching. You just have to worry about the players.”
Brown has taken over the head coaching role, and Canal says it was a natural fit for his assistant to become his replacement.
“He will do a good job. He is committed, he has been there a while now and he puts in the time and effort. He knows all the players and knows hockey, right? He is there for the right reasons and he wants to see the guys move on and wants the players to improve and develop in the right way and he will put them on the right road,” said Canal.
Brown says he plans on keeping the same kind of strategy that helped the team have a winning season.
“It is exciting and I am really looking forward to the opportunity and the challenge. It will be something new and something different, but at the same time, I will be taking the same approach that the team has taken in the past. Our expectation is to compete and to put ourselves in a position to win every game,” he said.
With Sutherland Cup in hand, and the 2016-2017 behind him, Brown says he is already looking at next year’s recruits. The long postseason has the club at a disadvantage, however.
“As the last team standing, everybody else has already done their exit interviews and meetings with their players over a month ago, so we are kind of late to the parade,” he said, adding his eyes are already looking ahead. “There is an array of things that you look for in players, but definitely their will to compete, their skating ability as well as whether they know what it takes to win. We expect to have a long playoff run again next year, and it takes a certain character to know what it takes to get there. That is what we are looking for in the new guys coming in.”
Brown knows what it is like to be on the ice, as well as what it means to be in a suit and tie behind the bench on game day. He played for the Sugar Kings from 2007 to 2009 before heading to Lake Forest College to play NCAA hockey. He joined the team as assistant coach for the 2015-2016 season, and now, he is moving up on the roster.
“I think that will help. This will be my eighth year overall with the Sugar Kings, from playing to coaching, so I would like to think that I know what makes the organization tick and what makes people, not just the players, but the booster club, the fans, the volunteers, the game day people, come out,” he said. “There is a lot to know about how everything works, and there are lots of people who make it happen, but that familiarity will help and pay dividends for us throughout next season.”
The Elmira Sugar Kings will be having their end-of-season awards and banquet on June 4 at the Elmira Lions Hall.