With training camp only days away, the Swift Current Broncos officially announced on August 28 that they had removed the interim title and signed Head Coach Taras McEwen to a two-year agreement.
McEwen had led the Broncos to a 30-13-3-2 after taking over as head coach early last season. The son of former Broncos head coach Brad McEwen now becomes the 10th head coach in Broncos modern franchise history.
“Obviously a lot of excitement,” said McEwen after the announcement. “I know it’s something we worked on lots throughout the summer. The hope and plan was always to be here and stay in Swift and continue off last year. Obviously disappointing with losing to Moose Jaw with the team that we had, but I think [there’s] a lot of building blocks going into this year and looking forward to getting the season going.”
“We’ve been working on it for part of summer and obviously with all the staffing that we’ve had to do we got it out a little later than we wanted to, but very comfortable, very excited for Taras to take this and more forward,” said General Manager Chad Leslie. “He deserved it. He did a really good job coming in. I think the culture changed really quickly, everybody was at ease and we saw a lot of our players respond to that. You look at guys like Luke Mistelbacher and those guys, the second halves they had, I really do believe a lot of it was Taras and his relationships and putting guys at ease and believing in guys. We saw lot of guys have their best hockey in the second half of the season for a reason.”
“He builds really good relationships with the players,” added overage goaltender Reid Dyck. “We all feel really comfortable, open door policy, everyone talking to him if we have concerns. I think that’s really important just for we all feel we’re building towards one goal as a team and we’re all together in it. He just built a really good environment and culture here.”
Leslie said that the team did look outside the organization during the offseason.
“We looked outside a little bit, but the reality is I feel Taras deserved it. He came in and took it and ran with it and he made it his. He’s been given the freedom to do as he sees fit down there in the room and with the players and he’s earned that and he’s proved it even in the offseason all the blood, sweat, and tears into renovating the dressing room and doing all those little things that a lot of guys wouldn’t do. He just cares about the organization and he really wants to be here and his family wants to be a part of the community, so it’s a really big day for us.”
The Broncos also announced that they have added Zach Franko as an assistant coach in place of Zack Smith, who will be moving into a player development role. Franko played four seasons in the WHL with the Kelowna Rockets and the Kootenay Ice and most recently coached the St. Boniface Riels.
The Broncos also announced the addition of Kory Achtymichuk as Equipment Manager.
Broncos Rookie Camp will begin on Friday and the Main Camp will get underway on Sunday.
