courtesy of CTV Regina
Former Regina Pats coach and general manager Dave Struch is excited about his new role as director of hockey at Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Wilcox, Sask.
Struch, spent a total of eight seasons with the Pats as an assistant coach and general manager and as the team’s head coach for parts of four seasons.
Originally from Flin Flon, Man., Struch was also a member of the Saskatoon Blades coaching staff, a team he played for in the early 1990s.
In an interview with CTV Morning Live, Struch admitted initially he wasn’t too keen on the opportunity.
“I wasn’t really interested at the start, I still was hoping to get back into the Western Hockey League (WHL) or something pro,” Struch said. “I did a bit of due diligence on it and it allowed me to put a stamp on something, I’ve always wanted to do that.”
Struch said a couple of months after the initial offer he received at the end of January, he got another call and both sides started to talk more seriously about him taking on the role.
“My official start date is July 1 and I’ve had a chance to go out there and meet some of the coaches and teachers and leadership group and it’s so far been exciting [with] lots for me to learn as far as the administration and managerial stuff but I’m up for the challenge,” Struch said.
There are 11 hockey teams in total at Notre Dame that Struch will be involved with.
“The umbrella is big but the leadership group that is there right now has got some experience with it so we’re going to use that.”
Struch said they are hoping to add former professional players to the staff list that live in the area.
“If we can bring out some guys that played the game at the NHL level, you look at the other academies across the country and I can use Jerome Iginla for example, those are the guys that bring in players,” Struch said.
Getting more kids out to Wilcox is something Struch said can create a unique experience for them.
“The experience is one that you’ll never get anywhere else, you walk out of a classroom and straight into a gym, then from a gym into a skills station and back into the classroom and back onto the ice and it’s all within minutes,” Struch said.
“It’s a unique little campus.”
