Larry Wintoneak is no longer the head coach of the Kindersley Klippers.Rockie Zinger has been named interim coach.
Update
Klippers president Rod Perkins had no comment on the reasoning for the move this morning, but from what I've pieced together, Larry was asked by the board to resign last night. Rockie said he thought it was strange that board members were not at the dinner yesterday at the curling club, but didn't think anything of it. Later, a few minutes into the Red Lions game last night (Rockie and a few Klippers were there), he was called into the office and offered the interim head coach/DHO role.
I will have interviews with Rockie, Braeden Adamyk and Justin Gerwing up later today. For now, here is some of what I've found out.
- players were informed when they showed up for practice today
- Zinger and Adamyk both say they don't think Larry lost the room
- Adamyk did make some interesting comments, such as "Maybe the respect level wasn't there, but he definitely didn't lose it" and "A few guys had a little bit of relief on their faces. Spirits are definitely up today."
-Gerwing said he "heard talk about it, but I thought it wasn't going to happen ... this quick"
-Zinger said it's a bittersweet time for him. He wanted to be a Jr A head coach at some point, but "I didn't want it to happen this way"
-Adamyk said he counts Wintoneak as a friend, thought he gave players opportunities they might not have gotten elsewhere, and said "I feel bad because we should have been a better team for him"
If I'm able to reach Larry today, I will let you guys know ASAP what he has to say.
I will be on the Sports Fix with Dan O'Connor tonight to discuss the coaching change and what it means for the Klippers. It starts at 8 and you can listen here.
At some point when this all dies down, I'll post my personal thoughts on Wintoneak being cut loose.
For now, I will say I'm shocked that the board chose to do this half a season after he signed a two-year extension, especially considering they were already in debt due to the fire.
How are you guys shocked we "had" a team that was a contender now were dippin under .500 so think about it what did Larry accomplish nothing this is what the team needed a new face a new leader, I'm not saying rockie would be my first choise maybe next year Kilmer will be bench boss next year
ReplyDeleteI don't want to put words in Josh's mouth but I'm thinking he's shocked (as am I) that the board would do this after they signed him to an extension. As Josh noted, the Klippers are in debt already, plus they don't draw overly well, now they are going to be paying Larry for another year and a half (or paying him out, however it goes).
ReplyDeleteLarry is a good hockey guy, he'll land on his feet somewhere I'm sure.
RT
There is good and bad in everyone. Larry did amazing things for this organization that people who were not behind the scenes do not know. This man dealt with the loss of our rink in a heartbeat to ensure this team would continue on playing with little disruption. That is only 1 of the many great things he did. Please give Larry the respect he deserves and let him leave this team with some pride. No 1 person can say they are perfect. Thank you Larry for your hard work and commitment to this organization.
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