The 5-Hole

Hey Wild fans!

Yup! After an inexplicable hiadis of two weeks from the blog, I have returned with a brief (yeah, sure!) yet hopefully poignant installment.

In this edition we'll welcome the new head coach of your Wenatchee Wild and usher in a new era in the team's history along the way.

First, let's all say hello to John Becanic, the new head coach of your Wenatchee Wild.

Becanic brings with him nearly two decades of junior hockey coaching experience, with almost half of that time served in the NAHL with the Pittsburgh Forge (where he guided the team to a league championship) and as one of the founding members of the reigning champion Bismarck Bobcats where he not only coached but was also general manager.

He has also logged time in the Ontario Hockey League and in recent years in the Western Hockey League, including as an assistant with the Vancouver Giants where he departed from to come to Wenatchee.

Becanic takes over a very talented bunch that has seemed to underachieve in certain areas this season and his biggest challenge will be to serve as mechanic (which is exactly how his name is pronounced in case you were wondering) to a vehicle that has been through one rough ride after another (o.k., time to officially start the automotive metaphors...oh no!).

It would really seem as though Becanic's work will involve the psyche of his new team first and foremost before there is a lot of heavy concentration on the structuring of X's, O's, Q's, Z's, 7's and all of those other letters you can never seem to find a use for when playing Scrabble with your elderly relatives.

Thinking of what the team has gone through in the first half of their season, it's quite hard to appreciate from an empathetic viewpoint just exactly how tough the last three months have been. We forget that all of these young warriors on the ice have yet to draw their final card at blackjack (meaning to turn 21) and that having a solid core of mentoring is of tremendous importance to each of them individually and to all of them collectively as a team.

Thus far this season the guys have seen one head coach and one assistant coach dismissed and had their team captain bolt for a different league (we do wish you all the best Eric :-). So perhaps the gut-busting roller coaster results the club has posted on the ice are a direct result of all the discontinuity off the ice?

I look for Becanic to step in and have an immediate impact as admiral of this high powered fleet in helping to realign them through the turbulent seas that have emerged this season and eventually lead them to calmer waters. Pin a medal on the fleet's captain DJ Vandercook as well, who had a goal and an assist and played with a feisty edge in Becanic's debut behind the bench on Wednesday in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, where the Wild prevailed 5-to-2 in game number one of a three game series. Congratulations to Becanic on winning his first game as head coach.

We also need to say thanks to Wenatchee Wild general manager Rod Collins, who's already massive buffet line of responsibilities expanded to add three kinds of egg rolls and a build-your-own waffle bar when he assumed the interim head coaching duties last month.

Think about it...Mr. Collins suddenly went from directing 20 young men to guiding 47! All of that being in addition to his duties for the front office. Rod had to feel like a high school teacher in the New York City school system, who was also the principal too!

Collins went 2-and-1 in the interim role, including the 3-2 exhibition victory over the WSHL's Idaho Steelheads.

Kudos must also be given to team founders Craig Patrick and Bill Stewart (who is also team president) for their efforts over the past few weeks. Patrick's exploits as an assistant coach for the "Miracle On Ice" U.S. Olympic hockey team of 1980 and an NHL head coach and general manager are well known, while Stewart's storied career is largely under-appreciated or publicized.

Both provided an extraordinary amount of experience and leadership during their search for a new head coach that also included Collins. I have to admit it was quite overwhelming, from the press perch at least, to see the man who coached Sidney Crosby at Shattuck St. Mary's standing next to the man who drafted him for the Pittsburgh Penguins at the 2005 entry draft behind the Wenatchee Wild's bench during December 10th's exhibition contest with the Idaho Steelheads.

The Patrick/Stewart tandem went 1-and-1 during it's head coaching time for Wenatchee (in addition to making Jean-Luc Picard a very happy guy to boot!).

Lastly, we cannot forget the enormous contributions of associate coach Chris Clark (or "Clarkie" to those close to the team) and the ever present, but rarely talked about Pepe Sandoval.

Clark has taken on a tremendous amount of additional responsibility and work in assuming the associate position after being unexpectedly elevated to that role just four games into the season. He had even more additional duties when the Wild's former head coach was dismissed. Clark is now the only coach from the inaugural season's original three that still remains with the team.

Meanwhile, Sandoval has also been a big contributor since the first season for the Wild. In 2008 he began as a volunteer who helped with the team's training regiments, sharpened skates, assisted in managing the club's equipment and even made the coffee on game nights (a feat for which we consistently and jokingly dubbed him "Juan Valdez"!).

Last season Sandoval assumed an official position with the Wild doing all of the affore mentioned chores and more, plus this season has carried on that same job with the NAHL squad in addition to becoming the assistant coach of the newly created U18 team.

I see all of these men on a regular basis and am employed directly by a couple of them. It's always a pleasure to see them all at the rink when at home and around the hotel lobby and in various other places when the team is on the road. I look forward to establishing that same comfortable repoire with Coach Becanic as we welcome him to the Wenatchee Wild family.

Hockey is really a family like no other. Sure, we drop a lot of names and in the case of the Wild, are so fortunate to have a collective of owners and coaches who have such recognizable connections.

But just like any other family, no matter who is in involved or how famous they or the people they know are, each one of them bonds together through thick and thin and works as hard as they can for the betterment of the team.

Now that the team has a new head coach and the stabilizing impact that goes along with that hiring, I believe they will get better...both on and off the ice.

When you next show up at Town Toyota Center on New Year's Eve when Wenatchee battles Fresno, please show your very warmest welcome to John Becanic, your new head coach of the Wenatchee Wild!

In closing, let me again apologize for my absence from the blog. It seems that writer's block is a lot more common in my family's bloodline than is verbalizer's block! Actually, it has been a very hectic holiday season for yours truly and I have found it difficult to set aside the necessary time to continue the blog on a consistent basis with the same quality I expect to deliver every time out.

I promise we'll get at least one installment per week to you all from now on. Look for it early in the week on Mondays or Tuesdays.

Thanks as always for spending the time it takes to read "The 5-Hole". Please feel free to share your thoughts about this week's edition with me.

Chris Hansen is the play-by-play voice of the Wenatchee Wild and can be heard on gamedays with Pat Norlin and Rich Haney at AM 560 KPQ on radio in North Central Washington and online at FastHockey.com…his web site blog, “The 5-Hole”, will be updated at least once a week here at WenatcheeWild.com