A Back to the Future move by the Delta Ice Hawks will have a pair of familiar faces behind the bench next season.
The Pacific International Junior Hockey League team has announced the return Shane Kuss and Roger Ross to over see the head coaching duties. The staff will be rounded out by assistant and former Ice Hawk Mike Basford.
All three were part of the club's only Cyclone Taylor Cup provincial championship back in 2006.
Kuss left soon after to coach the Surrey Eagles of the B.C. Hockey League where Ross served as an assistant. This past season, Kuss coached the Delta Wild and will continue to work with the South Delta Hockey Academy team. Ross was head coach of South Delta Minor Hockey's Bantam A1 squad.
"You're going to see a scenario where Shane will be at 90-95 percent of our games," explained Peter Zerbinos, Ice Hawks general manager and director of hockey operations. "That's why we went with the co-coaching roles."
Soon after losing game seven of the PIJHL semi-finals to the Richmond Sockeyes, the Ice Hawks were made aware head coach Dave McLellan would not be returning after two plus seasons at the helm. It didn't take Zerbinos long to put the team of Kuss and Ross at the top of his list.
"I would see both of them quite often at the arena and they were always checking in to see how the team was doing," he said. "These are two well-established and successful coaches not only at the PIJHL level but in the in B.C. Hockey League as well. They work so well together and it makes my job easier just knowing the experience they have."
Basford was a key member of the Ice Hawks blueline during his playing days. Soon after graduating, he shifted his focus to officiating and worked as a head referee at the tier II level of junior and as a linesman in the Western Hockey League. He coached in the Richmond Minor Hockey Association this past season.
"Mike is a good up-and-coming coach who knows what it takes to be successful in this league," added Zerbinos. "It's also great to have a younger coach on staff who the players can relate to."
The Ice Hawks have established themselves as one of the top programs in the PIJHL, winning the league title in 2012. They were the only team that managed to beat the Richmond Sockeyes in the playoffs this spring.
The Sockeyes went on to win the PIJHL, Cyclone Taylor Cup and Keystone Cup - winning 15 consecutive games.
Icing... The new coaching staff's first order of business is next week's annual Prospects Camp which will offer spots in the club's main training camp in August.
