Posted on Sunday, April 18th, 2010 at 8:01 am
“It has been a pretty wild two weeks,” explained General Manager Todd Kelman late Saturday Night after finalising the contract with his new coach, Doug Christiansen just hours before.
“Two weeks ago, Steve and I were having breakfast in Nottingham, preparing to win a championship and here we are 14 days later with a new coach ready to take the reigns of our championship team. I don’t have a cliché line to say how I am feeling, because I would be lying if I told all our fans that this isn’t a sad day for me. Steve came in two years ago after Ed Courtenay and he revived the Giants. He reminded us all why we love this game and love this team and him and I have a lot to be proud of over the last two years. Steve is probably my closest friend in ice hockey these days and I will miss his good nature, his humour and his positive outlook on life. He gave us all three championships and probably the two best groups of guys we have been associated with in Belfast.”
Kelman went on to speak about the recruitment process for the new head coach.
“When I found out Steve was leaving, I did not want to wait for a few weeks before hiring someone to replace him. I started a list of potential replacements and eventually shortlisted it down to 6 potential candidates. I interviewed them all, some in person and some over the phone due to the fact that they were in Canada or mainland Europe. I spoke to the Edinburgh owner before calling Doug and although he probably did not want to give me permission to speak to him, he knew that he was not going to keep him from at least interviewing for the position. I have to thank Scott Neil for that; it takes a big man with a lot of class to allow someone that he values in his organisation to interview for a job that would be seen as one of the most prestigious in the league. Doug spent three seasons in Edinburgh but just like players want to move their career forward, so do coaches and Doug sees this move to Belfast as a real opportunity to become a championship winning coach.”
“Fans will probably have their opinions of my choice, they always do, but my job is to put personal feelings aside and make the decision based on what is best for the Giants organisation. I spoke to potential player/coaches from this league and from top leagues in Europe, I spoke to bench coaches from North America and from Europe as well, and some that could have been either.”
“As soon as I left the interview with Doug, I knew we had found our man. Our owner Jim Gillespie and I both met with Doug and we both had the same high opinion of him after the interview. He has learned the ropes for three seasons and improved his team each year. Like any young coach, experience is invaluable and he comes to Belfast with the know how and the ability to recruit extremely well. I spoke to some of his current players and former players and they all had great things to say about his on ice systems and his dedication to his job. You get the feeling his players would go through a wall for him and that is a quality I understand very well. I played for a number of coaches; some good some bad, but the ones that got the most out of us were the ones that you would do anything for to win. Thornton had those qualities. Doug has those same qualities. He has worked with one of the smallest budgets in the league each season and managed to find some gems each year and I am very confident with him steering the ship here in Belfast.”
“It remains to be seen if he will be a player/coach or a bench coach. We will sign the maximum number of imports allowed to dress for each game, not including Doug and he will likely be the first person to step in to cover for injuries, which inevitably happens each season. I didn’t sign him to play on one of our top lines; I signed him because he was the best man for the job. He is ready to take the next step in his coaching career and he deserves the chance to coach one of the top teams in the Elite League. I am very excited to have Doug here in Belfast, and I think we all will be looking forward to the team he can build over the next few months.”
Todd Kelman
General Manager
© 2008 Belfast Giants Limited, unless otherwise stated. Imagery © Michael Cooper Photography.
