Leafs turn another page after Chris Shaw jumps to BCHL
By The Nelson Daily Sports
By Bruce Fuhr
The Nelson Daily Sports
There will be a new captain at the helm of the Good Ship Nelson Leaf after head coach and general manager Chris Shaw accepted a position with the Vernon Vipers of the B.C. Hockey League Tuesday.
The Vipers announced on their website Tuesday Shaw is joining the three-time defending Fred Page Champions as an assistant to head coach Jim Williamson.
“From our prospective, it’s never nice to lose a coach, or a player for that matter, but at the same time we’re a developmental (team) and is wouldn’t be fair to stand in the way of a coaches future,” Leaf president Russell Stocks told The Nelson Daily Wednesday.
Stocks said the Vipers contacted the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League franchise inquiring about the status of Shaw in late June.
Tuesday night the now former coach and GM of the Leafs broke the news to the team president.
“Chris told me he hated to leave Nelson because he was really excited about building a contender in Nelson,” Stocks explained.
“But when the top team in the BCHL comes calling the decision to leave is a no brainer.”
Shaw, who spent one season in the Heritage City, came to the Leafs from the Okanagan Hockey Association.
He had previous coaching experience with the Alberni Valley Bulldogs of the BCHL and the KIJHL’s Penticton Lakers.
In his first full season in Nelson the 30-year-old White Rock native guided the Leafs to a third-place finish in the Murdoch Division of the KIJHL, finishing the regular season with a 25-20-0-3 record.
Nelson lost out to Beaver Valley in the first round of the playoffs, but pushed the Nitehawks to seven games.
However, it took Shaw a little time to get accustomed to the rigors of the head coaching position as the Leafs struggled out of the gate going winless in four games to start the season and were never able to compete against the heavyweights in the Murdoch Division — Castlegar Rebels and Beaver Valley Nitehawks.
Surprisingly news of Shaw’s departure spread like wildfire through the hockey circles as Stocks has fielded numerous calls from potential candidates interested in the Nelson vacancy.
“I’ve had a former coach in the BCHL call along with a couple of people who have previously coached in the KIJHL and two people from the Kootenay area,” Stocks confessed.
“We’re quite confident we’ll have some one in place in the next week or two,” Stocks added.
Prior to Shaw the Leafs were skippered by former professional hockey player Simon Wheeldon for five seasons. Wheeldon took the Leafs to the KIJHL title in 2009.
Stocks said Shaw is not leaving immediately and will fulfill his duties with the upcoming Leaf summer hockey school later this month.
The camp, set for July 25-29 at the NDCC Arena, regular and elite players between the ages of eight to 14.
The camp includes have 2.5 hours of ice time and 1.5 hours of dryland training under the guidance of Shaw and Leaf players.
Anyone interested should register on the Nelson Leafs website at http://www.nelsonleafs.ca/
The Nelson Daily sports department put in a call to the cell phone of Chris Shaw but did not receive any reply.
sports@thenelsondaily.com
