QUEBEC CITY, P.Q. — Two more QMJHL teams decided to make changes behind their respective benches.
On Monday October 18, in Halifax, the Mooseheads Majority owner Bobby Smyth, the former Minnesota North Stars first round pick decided to make a change behind his team’s bench firing Cam Russel. Seeing his team ranked 17 out of 18 in the QMJHL, Smyth decided to put himself behind the bench to have a better knowledge of the situation before making other changes if necessary.
“Cam did an extraordinary job with us since he entered our organization, drafting lots of talented young hockey players. Now we need to make sure the young players will develop and be at their best as far as their potential. We owe that to our fans,” The QMJHL reported on its website.
Smyth, a veteran of 15 seasons with Minnesota and Montreal, made a victorious debut behind the bench on Tuesday at home at the Metro Center in a 3-2 victory against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.
Talking about the Acadie Bathurst, Titan owner Leo-Guy Morrissette and General Manager Sylvain Couturier surprisingly decided to fire their head coach Ron Choules on October 21, even as Choules has had a positive record of 10-5 after 15 games. It’s even more surprising when the Titan was only three points behind the first team overall in the standing the Quebec Remparts with an 11-0-0-1.
The organization will honor the contract of Choules for the rest of the season. Eric Dubois who was an assistant to Choules will assume the interim head coaching job until a new head coach will be hire.
Choules became Titan head coach in January 2008. In 171 games with the team, he accumulated a record of 72-99.
Contact the author at: serge.poulin@prohockeynews.com
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