The Lacombe Generals will move into a new home rink next season, armed with their new name but minus one of their top officers.
Head coach Ryan Tobler is headed to Colorado to be an assistant coach with the Eagles of the ECHL.
He has ties with the franchise, playing seven years of pro hockey with the Eagles while winning a couple of championships before retiring in 2010.
“It’s what I want to do,” he said with regard to coaching as a career. “It’s the natural next step for me.”
He leaves the Chinook League Generals having won an Allan Cup as an assistant and then chasing the title for three years as a head coach. Of course, last spring the Generals captured the national title once again so Tobler is going out on top. The decision to leave the Generals wasn’t an easy one and the reasons he was drawn back to Colorado are basically the same ones which made it hard to leave the Generals.
“It’s like a tight-knit family, the loyalty. It’s something I really respect. I love that team and I love that organization,” he said.
Tobler says he wasn’t looking to leave and if any other team had come calling about an assistant coach job he would have remained in Lacombe. Those were the only options unless he was offered a head coaching job somewhere else, then he would have had to make another choice as well, he said.
Tobler says his time with the Generals has helped prepare him for this next move along a career path of coaching in hockey. Being behind the bench was valuable, dealing with high pressure situations along the road to the Allan Cup, including tense action in the year-end tournament itself.
“There’s some pressure-packed moments I learned and grew from and hopefully can translate to the next level for me.”
Tobler feels the decision made in Colorado recognized the team effort and success in Bentley over the years. Players have moved up in the hockey ranks before but this might be the first time he can recall a coach in the Chinook League being recruited for a professional job so this is another feather in the cap for the Generals.
Over the last few years senior hockey across the country in general but Alberta in particular has seen the type of players coming into the league rise in the area of skill. There was a time where the league was a last resort for many players to continue to play, which was fine. The league is now garnering more respect in hockey circles and the hiring of Tobler is another example of other leagues taking notice of what’s going on here.
“I think the league deserves more notoriety. Whether or not it will get it remains to be seen. There’s a reason why Don Cherry and Ron Mclean go on and pay tribute to the Allan Cup champions every year. They understand the guys are playing for the love of the game and there’s something to be said about that.”
He feels the transition to pro hockey won’t be such a drastic change but there is one area which might take some getting used to. In senior hockey he had his players for one practice a week as players and coaches try to balance hockey with full time jobs.
“So for me to be able to go and treat this is as a full time job and get the guys there every day, that’s what they’re there to do. It’s their full time job, that’s the part that excites me,” he said.
He gives a big nod to Generals president Wes Gyori and GM Jeff McInnis for giving him the opportunity to coach in Bentley.
“Jeff was a great guy to work with and very fair. We’d have some heated conversations but we would always sit down and hash things out whether it be hockey decisions player-wise or systems,” he said. “It was nice to have that dialogue.”
He feels that experience may have been the edge he needed to get the job in Colorado over some candidates who were maybe closer to the Eagles organization.
Tobler looks back to the players with the Generals who have been with him for the past four years and going to four Allan Cup tournaments so there are friendships which grew during that time. He says it’s a huge loss in his world.
“There are so many things I’m going to miss but the players and the organization are in short, the main things.”
The book is closed on his senior hockey career and now on to write another chapter in Colorado.
