Guest: Just the FACTS


Another guest provides us with an absolutely GREAT blog post.

There are a lot of rumors out there about Coach Chelios. Here are the FACTS.


  • Fact #1. Few people who comment on this blog are qualified to do so.

  • Fact #2. Believes in player development. Steve is not banned from coaching in any state nor has he ever been. He has been put in several situations as Head Coach of a team that was previously in last place. Some of his win/loss records in the past are a tribute to that. In Laconia he was given two returning players and tasked with filling the remainder of the roster with no support. The team did not win many games but were much more competitive than the previous year. The positive point that no one mentioned was that despite being a last place team, Chelios moved 10 players to D3 schools that year.

  • Fact #3. Can deal with challenges. The Orangeville Crushers was a Junior B team the year before Chelios got there, and they played their first season in the OPJHL with him at the helm. It's a difficult task to go from a Junior B league to a top Junior A league in one season. I think it would be for anyone. It was not all bad, Coach Chelios led the Crushers to winning the Rookie Tournament prior to being let go.

  • Fact #4. Winning tradition. There has been no mention of Coach Chelios' work with the Toronto Redwings Midget AAA team that was a last place team for several years before he took over. His first season with them, they finished two points out of second place in the league and won the second largest midget hockey tournament in Canada "the Monctonian."

  • Fact #5. Passionate hockey guy. Is Steve a passionate coach? Yes. Does he hate to lose? Yes, very much so. Does he get that from his brother/family? Probably. The fact is, he is a hockey guy. More of a hockey guy than any NORPAC team has ever had behind the bench.

  • Fact #6. Assistant coaching. Steve will not be the only Coach. Just because an Assistant has not been named must mean that the Wranglers are not bringing one on?? It’s May! The Generals just recently announced their new Assistant Coach and several teams are probably still looking. The role of the Assistant Coach in this organization has little to do with recruiting. The Wranglers really don’t need to have an Assistant Coach named until close to the start of the season. I can assure you it will however be before then.

  • Fact #7. Returning players. Several players have called the Wranglers office to express their wanting to play here again. The Wranglers have made calls to several of the players they are asking to return and have had positive feedback from all. Sam Jossie is going to U of O. Other than that, everyone else who was mentioned in the previous post is already signed up to attend the Wranglers Camp.

  • Fact #8. Wranglers tenders/new players. The Wranglers will not release information about possible tenders or new players until those players are signed. However, Main Camp registrations are way up from the past two years. Several of the players signed up are players who were specifically recruited by Wranglers staff the past two seasons. The skill and speed at Main Camp WILL be much higher than in the past two seasons. I will go even further and say that the Wranglers will have between 2-4 quality players tendered by the end of next week.

Be positive. All the negativity can be very potentially damaging and in poor taste. If you really want to see the Wranglers succeed, please keep in mind that potential players may read this blog. If it is nothing but negative, they may decide not to come.

Thank you for providing us with this post, and clarifying some of the misconceptions and rumors. Now many of you may be asking "Who wrote this?" The Wrangler Curmudgeon is following his practice of not naming the guest blog poster. Does it really matter? No. I do firmly agree with the last statement, "LETS BE POSITIVE" All you naysayers and "boo-birds" out there give the Wranglers their chance to prove you wrong, if not then you will be allowed to speak up.