After their 2009/2010 season ended with a quick first-round playoff exit, the Salmon Arm SilverBacks announced last Thursday that Matt Hughes will no longer be the club’s head coach.
Hughes spent three years behind the bench in Salmon Arm, but he’s been after his inaugural season as head coach. He served two seasons as an assistant under Rylan Ferster, the SilverBacks’ general manager who will now be returning to his familiar head coaching post for the 2010/2011 campaign.
“We’re certainly hoping to have success like every other franchise in the B.C. Hockey League,” says Ferster (seriously?).
Ferster has a plethora of coaching experience in the Junior A hockey ranks. He coached Team Canada West to a silver medal at the 2009 World Junior A Challenge and has been around the BCHL. After serving as an assistant under Ty Davidson in Salmon Arm, he filled Victoria’s head coaching vacancy. Ferster then returned the Silverbacks’ organization for the 2007/2008 campaign as both the head coach and GM.
The SilverBacks recorded three straight winning years, including two outstanding seasons in 2007/2008 and 2008/2009. In the latter year, the SilverBacks caught fire during the playoffs and reached the Interior Conference Finals before falling to the eventual champions from Vernon. But with Hughes as the head coach, the team’s play slipped. Salmon Arm went from winning 40 games to 29-win. The club went through a late-season slide during which the club went 1-7-1 down the stretch before losing to Quesnel in the playoffs.
Looking ahead, it will be a busy summer for Ferster as both GM and head coach. Recruiting becomes a top priority with six 20-year-old players graduating from the SilverBacks’ organization, including Salmon Arm’s star player Mark Zengerle. The BCHL’s top scorer this season (120 points) will be suiting up for the Wisconsin Badgers in the 2010/2011 season.
But Ferner is confident the returning players will be able to get Salmon Arm back to the top. David Killip, Travis Statchuk, Josh Manson and Devin Gannon are some of the veterans that the GM believes are capable of keeping the franchise competitive. Besides, he’s already had five players commit to the franchise for next season, so things are looking up in Salmon Arm.
