Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Lauer Won't Coach in Kelowna/115 Days Long Enough For Ya?


Brad Lauer has resigned as an assistant coach of the Kootenay Ice. But before you jump to conclusions, Lauer is not coming to Kelowna as the next head coach of the Rockets. How do I know that? I called him!
I spoke to Lauer earlier today, about his decision to leave the WHL after five years as an assistant and the frustration of failing to land several head coaching jobs this off season in the league.

"I didn't pursue the Kelowna job really. I thought that Ryan (Huska) and I are in the same boat. Sure I would have been interested in it, but I didn't contact Bruce (Hamilton) about it because I figure that if I got the job, Ryan wouldn't want to be there", Lauer told me.

" I didn't pursue it really. I know Ryan well and it would have been a very uncomfortable situation. I think Ryan would be a perfect fit, and any time you can hire from within, and your comfortable with him, I think it's a good thing", Lauer added.

Lauer can't say where he's going, but says it's a head coaching job with a team in Canada and it is not at the pro level.
Lauer admitted to me he was involved in interviews in Moose Jaw and Prince Albert, but was unsuccessful with Bruno Campese getting the job with the Raiders and Dave Hunchak earning the duties with the Warriors.
Brad Lauer was a class act during his time in Kootenay and I wish him the best. I never wanted his team to win in those Rocket/Kootenay playoff battles that seemed to be common place every spring, but I appreciated his openness with me over his time in the WHL.
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115!
It's been 115 days since the Kelowna Rockets last game. By the time it is all said and done, and the Rockets open the 2007-2008 regular season, it will in fact be the longest off-season in franchise history.
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Think back to last year at around this time. The Rockets made a significant trade with the Seattle Thunderbirds acquiring Clayton Barthel for goaltender Derek Yeomans. The deal went down July 7th, 2006.

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