The Delta Ice Hawks are turning to a coaching consortium for the balance of the season after an unexpected development last week.
Darren Naylor was named general manager and head coach of the Nanaimo Clippers on Friday after former Ice Hawk owner Wes Mussio decided to part ways with Mike Vandencamp over “irreconcilable differences.”
Naylor had already been named the team’s director of hockey operations when Mussio purchased the Clippers last month. He was expected to move into a full-time role with the club next season and the wheels were slowly in motion to find his potential replacement in Delta.
However, Naylor is making his debut behind the Nanaimo bench on Friday in Powell River and will continue to oversee the Ice Hawks who own a Pacific Junior Hockey League best 28-2-0-1 record. He should be available for most of Delta’s home games on Tuesday nights with just one conflict over the next two months.
His longtime assistant Ken McPhalen will run the bench in his absence. Naylor has also added former captains Quinten Wideski and Cam Cuthbert to the coaching staff, joining Mike Onzik. The Ice Hawks have 13 regular season games remaining before the PJHL playoffs.
The moves leave Naylor still in charge of a powerhouse team he has built over the past two years and provides the opportunity for him to potentially be available for every game should the Clippers’ season ends sooner. They are in a playoff position with 22 games remaining. The Hawks season could last until April when the Cyclone Taylor Cup provincial championships takes place in Richmond.
“This is something I definitely feel I am ready for,” said Naylor of his expanded duties in Nanaimo. “The Ice Hawks are almost self-running at this point (of the season) and I will still be involved.”
Naylor added there are no plans to bring any of his Ice Hawk players full-time to the BCHL, although he didn’t rule out adding some as APs.
The Ice Hawks have just completed another outstanding month that saw them go 6-0-0-1 and earn 11 of 12 points during a six game stretch against the other top five teams in the PJHL. They host Mission City on Tuesday at the Ladner Leisure Centre. Game time is 7:35 p.m.
