Leonard back to coaching duties behind Timberjaks bench

Leonard was brought on as an assistant coach midway through last season and reiterated how well he and the assistant coaches, Kim Issel and Stef Corfmat, get along in the coaches room.

“Malenfant runs a tremendous program, and these kids are treated quite well. Stef, Kim and I, we’re on the same page and we all enjoy being around each other, love the game and like working with the kids. It’s been a good fit,” he said, adding that the players also wanted a change.

“Talking to the kids before I took over, they wanted some accountability. That’s something we’re striving for [and] I think we’ve got a good route this year that, hopefully, we can have a good playoff run and have some success. So far, they’re buying in and it’s a really good group. We got a really good core from PA, which is huge and they’re young men now, so they know what it takes.”

“What I brought to them was a lot more structure, systems-wise, and why and when you do stuff, and they’ve adapted pretty good to it.”

So far in his Jr. B head coaching tenure, he’s already picked up his first win as the team sits at 1-2-0 (W-L-OTL) to start the season. The team embarked on the season with a 5-2 loss to the Saskatoon Royals on the road on Sept. 23 before returning the favour with a 6-2 win at home over the Royals on Sept. 26. In their most recent game, on Sept. 27, the Timberjaks dropped a 5-2 decision to the Chiefs in Martensville.

Noting that his coaching tactics and strategies aren’t straying away from what he had done in AAA, he said that the level of compete in the PJHL surprised him when he first came into the league last year.

“It’s a pretty good league, and this year it’s going to be really good. With the university and stuff, they got ex-WHL guys that maybe quit and wanted to go to school and Junior A guys that are the same too, so it’s a pretty skilled league. It’s not like it used to be back in the day. Kids are there to play hockey and it’s an entertaining league right now.”

The team now heads east to Carrot River on Friday to renew their rivalry with the Outback Thunder. Leonard said it’s always a battle no matter if the Jaks are heading to Kearns Arena, or if Carrot River makes the trip to Buckland.

“They’re tough in their barn. They play in your face, hard-paced hockey. So, it’s not so much worrying about them, it’s just if we come out and play it the way that we’ve been playing, we should be okay.”

The Timberjaks next home game is slated for Oct. 15 when P.A. welcomes the Martensville Chiefs. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m.

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com

by Logan Lehmann

Leonard back to coaching duties behind Timberjaks bench

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