Coach grew up with stick in hand
TRAVIS Gibbons has seen and done plenty in ice hockey — now he is looking to pass that experience on to the Dunedin Thunder.
The 28yearold has been in the city just six months but is excited for his first national ice hockey league game as the team’s head coach tonight.
The Thunder will play the West Auckland Admirals at the Dunedin Ice Stadium, before a second game tomorrow.
Originally from Ontario, Canada, Gibbons moved to Dunedin to complete his PhD at the University of Otago’s School of Physical Education.
It is his first coaching assignment, although he brings 24 years of playing experience.
That includes time with the Guelph Storm and Ottawa 67s in the OHL, one of Canada’s three major junior leagues, from the from the age of 16 to 21.
There he was exposed to a high level, playing alongside several players now in the NHL.
Notable among those were Drew Doughty and Logan Couture, alternate captains for the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks respectively.
It makes for an impressive background, although comes as a product of where he grew up.
‘‘Hockey’s a big part of our culture in southern Ontario,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s probably similar to rugby here, in that every kid knows how to play hockey at a very young age.
‘‘For me, my life revolved around hockey.
‘‘It was something I did almost every day of my life, whether it was on the ice, or on the street, or on the pond.
‘‘It’s just a huge part of our life, especially for me coming from a hockey family.’’
He felt the time commitment of playing at a high level would be too much, as he hoped to pursue other things in New Zealand.
Coaching allowed him to remain involved, however, and he was ‘‘pleasantly surprised’’ by the talent New Zealand possessed.
‘‘Depending on the level, the skill level is there.
‘‘I think the topend players in New Zealand are quite good and could go far in the Canadian system.
‘‘The overall pace of play might be a bit different, but it’s also hard to tell playing on our rink, which is so big, so sometimes it can seem a bit slower.’’
He was hoping to build on the momentum the Thunder gath ered last year when it notched nine wins to go close to the playoffs.
It had dropped all four preseason games, but had gone close in three of them.
However, Gibbons felt the errors were fixable and there were some areas the team could excel in.
‘‘I think our speed will be one of our advantages this year. Especially playing on the big ice here in Dunedin, speed will be critical.
‘‘We have a decent amount of depth on defence as well.
‘‘All three pairings are really good, so I think that will help us out and bring us a long way this year.’’
The Queenstownbased Stampede gets its season under way next weekend.