Kings announce new head coach
By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter
Tyler Lowey Photo
After two seasons, Shadoe Stoodley stepped down as head coach. After running through a series of interviews, the Kings found their replacement in a familiar face.
Joel Robinson has been named the fifth coach in Kings history and will take over for the 2018-19 season.
“He’s a guy that believes in local kids and understands the small town feel this team has and the need to have players on the roster that come from this area,” said new Kings president Mark Bishop. “He was by far and away the best candidate for the job.”
Robinson served as an assistant coach under Jeremy Blumes when the Kings returned for the 2014-15, season and a co-coach with Emilio Fuoco the following year, before parting ways to work with the Calgary Royals midget AA program.
“The biggest thing for me and what got me excited about this job when I was applying for it was the community aspect. I want to bring the community back to the rink to watch the Kings again,” said Robinson, B.C. born but has lived in Calgary for the past six years.
The last time Robinson was behind the bench with the Kings was the last time the Kings experienced any success in the postseason; it’s something he hasn’t soon forgotten.
“That year when we took Coaldale to Game 7 in the second round, I remember how packed this place was and seeing all the kids at the games. That’s where I want to take this program back to,” said Robinson.
Resurrecting the program won’t be easy. The Kings are fresh off their third-worst season in franchise history, are coming off back-to-back first-round exits and haven’t won a playoff game since the 2015-16 season — but Robinson is up to the challenge.
“Everything starts with building a foundation. If we want to get to where the Red Deer’s, Coaldale’s and Okotoks’ are in the league, we need to bring the right guys in. We need to get rid of the on and off the ice issues, get some character guys in the dressing room that want to play the right way,” said Robinson. “Even if we only win 10 or 15 games this year, we want to have the right guys in the room, playing the right way and laying the foundation on what is hopefully a strong program for years to come.”
Robinson, now 29, knows his way around the junior hockey circuit, having played parts of three seasons in the Kootenay International Junior B Hockey League, and Pacific Junior Hockey League before moving onto the Oro-Medonte 77’s of the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League in Ontario. All together, in 138 games, the forward scored 26 goals and added 48 assists.
Despite his offensive numbers, Robinson knows that the Kings will have to tighten up play in their defensive zone first if they are to grow any sort of success.
Following the Heritage Junior Hockey League from the outside, Robinson believes that there is no reason why teams registered so many great scoring chances on the Kings last season. He thinks that playing with this big ice surface should allow his defence to minimize shot attempts and should keep all shots from the outside.
But in order to do that, the Kings are going to have to be able to skate other teams out of the arena.
“If you come to training camp, you are going to see guys with weighted vests on and doing lots of skating drills. The game is different now; you have to play in-your-face hockey, but it’s different from the old in-your-face style. We have to be able to move our feet, skate and get in team’s faces with our offence. We need to limit the rough stuff after the whistle and play teams tough in between the whistles,” said Robinson.
Another reason Robinson was brought in was to bring more local kids out to the hockey program. Already familiar with the likes of Cole Busslinger, Brenden Moore, Hayden Vander Ploeg and Kody Hammond, Robinson feels like he has some ideas to bring in some new players and bring back some local players that are elsewhere in order to stabilize the program.
“I know this community loves it when local guys are on the team and we want more of that. We want to find guys that are committed to this program that will help see this through. I know some guys around the area and I’ve already started trying to bring in some players for next year,” said Robinson.
One of the local players Robinson worked with during his first go around with the team was Blake Bishop, whose father Mark just took over as the new team president. Mark was the treasurer for the Kings for the past four seasons.
Mark will be filling in for Mike Langen, who stepped down after four years as president to take the head coaching job with the Calgary Royals of the Alberta Midget Hockey League.
“Mark has been an integral part of the team ever since it returned. Him and I spearheaded its revival and he’s always been right there for the team even though he has had a million different things going on. It should be a seamless transition,” said Langen.
While Mark is only hoping to be in the position for a few years to fill the void until the board finds a long-term replacement. Robinson, on the other hand, is hoping to be here longer than that.
Before he can get any new players to commit to his future plans, he needs to fill out his coaching staff.
With both Desmet brothers likely stepping aside, Robinson thinks he has a couple local connections that would be great to step in right away.
“We have to do things one step at a time. We need to find guys who want to contribute to the program and who want to help build it up as much as I do. Once we get that in place, we can start looking at the idea of summer camps and bringing guys into our fall camps,” said Robinson.
One thing that has been said to be lacking in the Kings dressing room over the past two seasons has been commitment. Robinson knows the importance of commitment and will need it from all the new pieces of the Kings organization moving forward if he is to turn this team into a playoff threat once again.