The University of Alberta Golden Bears had a relatively successful 2015-16 campaign with a loss to Saskatchewan in the Canada West final and a trip to the University Cup. This off-season marks the beginning of a transition period for the historic program as the Bears have graduated seven key players, including the entire first line and both top producers from the blue-line. The Golden Bears were gracious enough to grant me interviews with both team general manager Stan Marple and head coach Serge Lajoie to discuss the off-season and the process of recruitment. This post is part one of a two part series and it focuses on my discussion with general manager Stan Marple.
Marple was a player and coach before he went into management. As a player he has played in the WHL (Victoria, 3 games), BCJHL (Delta Flyers, 3 games), and the AJHL (St. Albert Saints, 45 games). After finishing junior Marple went on to play a four seasons at the University of Alberta from 1989-1994. During his tenure as a Golden Bear player some of his teammates included: former Oiler and NHL alumni Corey Cross, former Oiler and current Oilers assistant coach Ian Herbers, former Ottawa Senators head coach Cory Clouston, and current Golden Bears head coach Serge Lajoie.
After leaving the University of Alberta Marple headed to England and turned professional as not only a player but also as a coach and manager. He played 23 games for the Basingstoke Beavers of the Britain’s top tier professional league. The next season he moved to Melton Keynes Kings where he was not only a player but added the additional titles of head coach and general manager – a sort of ‘Reg Dunlop’ of English professional hockey.
After a single season with Melton, Marple moved to the Swindon Icelords for the 1996-97 season and the following season he finally landed with the Guildford Flames where he spent the next eight seasons as a player, head coach, and general manager. He finished his career in England with the close of the 2006-07 season.
Upon return to Edmonton Marple spent a few years in the construction industry until his hockey career came full circle when he joined the Golden Bears coaching staff as an assistant for the 2010-11 season where the Bears won both the Canada West and National championships. The following season he took over as the head coach before moving to the general manager’s chair in May of 2012. Marple has enjoyed an incredible run as a manager since 2012 with three Canada West and two National titles in his four seasons since taking the top job.
Our conversation began with his return to the Golden Bears. My initial question was to ask him to comment on losing/graduating seven critical players and how it was going to impact the upcoming season. Marple responded by saying, “it’s never easy and things get accelerated when guys graduate. It’s similar to when I took over as head coach with the Bears and we lost guys like Ryan.” The Ryan he is referring to is Derek Ryan who left the Bears after the 2010-11 season for a professional career in Europe. Ryan then went on to play games with the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes.
The next obvious question was with regards to recruitment. I confessed to the GM that I was ignorant of how the Golden Bears actually recruit players. I asked, “do you guys have scouts or do you utilize the network of hockey people you know to give you tips on players? Is it all the above?” Stan Marple responded with a laugh, “as GM I look after all of that and I work in conjunction with (head coach) Serge Lajoie.” Marple confessed to regularly watching WHL games online and that he attended at least 80 in person during the past season. If you look at the Bears roster it is easy to see why; last season only three players on the Bears were graduates of leagues other than the WHL. Marple shared with me that the recruitment process also has to consider academics as the players have to be able to meet the University of Alberta’s tough admission standards. He said they, “(want to) recruit the right players. Kids who’ll be able to play Bears’ hockey and handle what comes along with being an athlete and a student at the University of Alberta.”
The conversation lead me to ask if he could provide any information on possible new recruits for the coming season. “We don’t like to share that information until a player is fully committed an we know he’ll be at camp because a lot can happen between now and then. We also don’t like letting the other guys know what we’re doing.” Marple went onto share an example from last summer. “We had Taran Kozun committed to playing with us. He was the WHL goaltender of the year. Everything looked good and then he was offered a pro deal. Had a player like that joined the team it could have made a difference on how last season turned out.” Kozun, who went 33-19 for the Seattle Thunderbirds and captured the WHL’s top honor for goaltenders, signed with the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies late in the summer of 2015 and decided to start his professional career. The Kozun example made it evident why Marple and the Bears are reluctant to share who they are talking to as there are no guarantees until camp opens and school starts. The GM said it is something he has to, “monitor daily,” as he watches who has been signed to pro deals. He did offer that, “we’re pretty confident we’ll be announcing some names people know once things get going. With seven key guys leaving we can offer the top-end guys a chance to compete for big minutes on our club right out of junior and a chance to win a championship.”
“The positions they earn is the positions they’ll get,”
While the Bears had seven players graduate and will recruit new players they also have a number of returning players who will be given an opportunity to increase their roles with the club. I asked the gm if he expected players like Stephane Legault, Jamie Crooks, and Dylan Bredo to step up to replace players like Levko Koper, Jordan Hickmott, and Jordan Rowley. He said that everyone, new recruits included, will be given an opportunity. “The positions they earn is the positions they’ll get,” Marple stated clearly. The conversation then shifted specifically to defenseman Dylan Bredo. He was a player who showed flashes of brilliance last season. I asked Stan directly what he thought of Bredo and he responded, “Dylan has a lot of potential. What is interesting about him is he only started playing defense in his third year of junior (with the Medicine Hat Tigers); he was a forward before that. He needs to add size and strength and be more consistent. We feel he can be really effective for us”
The final question I asked was about some interesting stories for a few of the players on the Bears last season. Jayden Hart actually played in the AHL before coming to the Bears. Marc-Olivier Daigle played in the QMJHL then moved to Drayton Valley of the AJHL and then to the U of A. I asked Marple to comment as it appears it isn’t always a straight line with how players end up playing for the Golden Bears. He explained that Daigle was a late addition as the team wasn’t sure how the situation with Taran Kozun would play out and they wanted to hold a spot as long as possible. In regards to Hart, “Jayden played some games with Rochester and went to the Rangers camp the following season. After camp he was offered an AHL/ECHL deal with no guarantee he’d be playing in the AHL. He decided he could do that after he graduated and decided to come to the Bears and earn a degree.” The way Marple stated, “earn a degree,” you could again tell the pride he and the Bears have with not only developing hockey players but young men who have an education to fall back on should their hockey aspirations fail to be realized.
The candor and willingness to be interviewed that Stan Marple offered was greatly appreciated. It would be hard to come away from a conversation with him and not be confident about the Golden Bear’s prospects for the upcoming season. Hopefully in the next month he’ll have some exciting news to offer about the new recruits who will be at camp.
Next Up
Please stay tuned to the Oilers Rig website for “Changes part two,” and my conversation with Golden Bears head coach Serge Lajoie.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
