Leonard leaves Raiders to coach Mintos; replaces Morrison

“It’s like a role reversal,” chuckled Morrison, who coached the Mintos to a Telus Cup midget AAA national championship last season. “It’s funny how it all panned out.”

The news of Leonard’s resignation came suddenly on Wednesday from the Raiders, who issued a statement saying that Leonard left for “personal reasons.”

“I needed to do what was right for myself and that’s what I did,” said Leonard. “We sat down as a group at home, hashed it over, and (the Mintos job) just kind of fell in the lap at the last second.

“It was kind of a win-win. I can continue on coaching and see where I go from here.”

Leonard wouldn’t get into specifics, other than saying “I needed to step away.”

He also declined to comment when asked if there were any disagreements between him and the Raiders coaching staff, which includes head coach Cory Clouston and associate Dave Manson, who Leonard coached with back in their Minto days.

“I’m not going to talk about anything like that,” said Leonard. “I left on my own accord and I made a decision. I’m going to live with it and I’m going to move on and tackle what’s ahead of me.

“Doors open up every day. That’s the way I’m going to look at it and that’s the way I’m going to approach it.”

That door to the Mintos opened on Monday when Morrison resigned, ending a four-year stint with the team. He was their head coach the last two seasons, and was one of Leonard’s assistant in the previous two.

Morrison said he resigned to spend more time with his family.

He did get to see a lot of his son Loch last year, who was the assistant captain of the Mintos. Loch has started this year with the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen as a 17-year-old defenceman.

But because of all his hours invested in the Mintos, Morrison barely got to see his daughter Tate participate in high school sports last year. Tate plays for a number of Carlton Crusaders squads, including basketball and soccer.

“Last year, I think I saw her play one basketball game out of the whole season,” said Morrison, who’s a vice-principal at Carlton. “She’s going into Grade 10, it’s going to be gone in a heartbeat and I don’t want to miss that. That was a big part of it.

“Also, if Loch stays with the Hitmen, obviously I’d like to go watch him play, too.”

Although he’s glad to have put away the coaching hat so he can spend more time being a fan and a father, Morrison said he’ll miss being behind the bench and thanks everybody from the Mintos for his last four years of coaching.

Once a Minto, always a Minto

In the same day as his Raiders resignation, Leonard joins the team he won back-to-back Telus Cup championships with in 2006 and 2007 in his seven years as a Minto head coach.

Despite his history with the team, Leonard is brand new to them this season. He has spent all of the preseason with the Raiders this year and will have a lot to learn about the team before Saturday’s home opener against the Saskatoon Blazers at 1:30 p.m.

Leonard said he will rely heavily on Mintos assistant coach Todd Becker, who’s been with the team throughout this year.

“It’s not ideal what’s going on, but when doors get slammed, doors get opened and that’s how you go about it,” said Leonard. “I’m going to feed off of Todd. We talked about it already; I told him it’s a 51-49 (per cent) type of organization. I get the extra two votes because somebody has to make the decisions or choices at the end of the day, but I’m really going to lean on Todd lots.”

Other Mintos assistant coach, Brad Bergen, also left the team in the offseason to pursue business opportunities.

jdandrea@panow.com

On Twitter: @jeff_dandrea

by Jeff D'Andrea

Leonard leaves Raiders to coach Mintos; replaces Morrison

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