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Mintos wish Leonard luck with Raiders

Mar 29, 2012 | 5:01 PM

Tim Leonard has had a lot of success with the Prince Albert Mintos and like he said on Wednesday, has little left to prove at the Midget AAA level.

In just seven years as the head coach, Leonard led the Mintos to back-to-back Telus Cup Championships in 2006 and 2007, three Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League championships and two Western Canadian championships.

As a result with all the success, Leonard has moved up to the Western Hockey League, accepting an assistant coaching position with the Prince Albert Raiders as announced Wednesday.

“I think it’s a great move for Tim,” said Mintos president Zenon Markowski. “I think it’s a situation for the Mintos that we helped a gentleman to move on to the next level and I think that’s what we’re all about—players and coaches, for sure.”

Leonard usually never avoids questions, but will always deflect inquiries about his own success elsewhere, either to his team, the board and the rest of the coaching staff. Mintos general manager Don Fauchoux, however, has no problem talking about the impact Leonard has had on the Mintos.

“He’s had a great impact, actually,” said Fauchoux. “He’s well known amongst the league and well known in the hockey circle, that’s why we get lots of the kids we do get that come to play with the Mintos.

“We’ll dearly miss him that way, for sure, and we’ll wish him lots of luck to his new team.”

Prior to getting Leonard on board, the Mintos had trouble locking in head coaches for extended periods of time, most lasting just one or two years according to Markowski. Before being with the Raiders, Leonard was on the Mintos bench for a decade, the last seven years as a head coach.

“Tim brought continuity to a situation that we never had continuity in,” said Markowski. “We knew (with Leonard) that the coaching and everything was in place, it was so much easier to recruit and do everything and help build the program.

The way Tim puts it, there’s a lot of people that are proud to put the Minto jersey on and a lot of that is to do with Tim as coach, the people he had around him, and the organization.”

As far as Leonard’s replacement goes, both Fauchoux and Markowski said no decision has been made yet. However, both left the option open for one of the two current assistants, Ken Morrison and Brad Bergen, to possibly take over the head coaching duties.

“Right now within our dressing room, we have two qualified assistant coaches that maybe, perhaps will take over,” said Fauchoux.

In Leonard’s absence, the Mintos will be tested to see how well they will do without the relying on Leonard being behind the bench. Markowski said the team will be up to that challenge.

“This is actually very good for us. All the years we’ve prepared and kept the stability, now there’s a little bit of movement—how good are we? Can we keep everything together?” said Markowski. “I think that with the board and with the volunteers and everything, I think we’re going to move on very nicely.

“We’re certainly going to miss Tim, but we’re going to wish him well. Hopefully we can move on and be successful, and I’m sure we will.”

jdandrea@panow.com