The city's newest hockey coach is stepping onto the ice, so to speak, for his first shift since rejoining the Nanaimo Clippers.
Mike Vandekamp, installed Monday as the B.C. Hockey League team's new coach and general manager, will immediately immerse himself in his job.
"I've come into new situations quite a bit in the past and it doesn't all come together overnight," Vandekamp said. "There's a lot of things that I'll be honest, I'm coming in blind to."
That's because his recent career moves – accepting the position with the Clippers and resigning from Alberta's Grande Prairie Storm – all happened so fast, Vandekamp said.
The coach said being closer to his wife's family was a factor in the decision. He was also interested in working again with his friend Ken Wagner, the Clippers' governor, and he embraces the idea of a new challenge.
"The organization has the right mindset when it comes to what we'd like to try to do moving forward," Vandekamp said. "The Nanaimo Clippers have been a very strong and consistent program within [the BCHL] and I intend on doing the best I can to continue that and grow that."
It isn't yet known who will be helping with the transition. Although Wagner said Monday that recently fired Bill Bestwick has been offered an advisory role, Vandekamp said he hadn't talked to Bestwick and hadn't even been told what role the former coach had been offered.
Vandekamp expects to make decisions soon concerning assistant coaches.
"The quicker the better for the persons involved," he said. "Everybody's got their lives to live and it's important not to drag things out that way."
Aside from staffing, some of the other initial tasks for the new GM will be examining budgeting and assessing his roster of returning players.
Recruiting will need to start immediately, and it may have already started, in a way. Vandekamp had been identifying prospects for his former Grande Prairie team, and Nanaimo could see some of the fruits of that labour.
"It's a delicate balance. There's some morality issues…" Vandekamp said. "There are some relationships that have been built along the way that may come to fruition. My intention is to just try to pick up on where the Clippers organization is taking off from, first and foremost."
It might feel like the start of a new era for local hockey fans. But in Vandekamp's view, it's not as though he's fixing something that's broken.
"I've never claimed to know everything about this business. I'm still learning every day and I'm just looking forward to a new challenge," he said. "It's a wonderful environment to be in. I think we have a lot to offer and a lot to look forward to and a lot of work to do."
ICE CHIPS … To read Monday's news story about Bill Bestwick's firing, please click here.
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