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New Red Wings coach, GM ready for hockey

Wes Rudy, Tanner McCall announced to head up the Wings
Red Wings coach GM

By Greg Nikkel
Wes Rudy is ready to put his stamp on the Weyburn Red Wings as their new head coach, along with the team’s new general manager and head scout Tanner McCall.
The two new top positions were introduced by the Red Wings team president Brent Stephanson in a news conference held in front of Crescent Point Place on Tuesday, with the board of directors all on hand to hear the two men speak about their new responsibilities.
They were chosen for their positions after the search committee went through an extensive search process with around 35 applicants sending in their resumes. Both served as assistants to Bryce Thoma, who was both the head coach and GM, and they come in with high degree of familiarity with the team and the players.
“It’ll be a challenge to start with,” said Rudy. “Bryce left us in good shape. I wouldn’t have done this without Tanner.”
McCall said he’s been working hard behind the scenes lining up prospects for the upcoming fall training camp along with the returning players, and promises a full camp to start on Saturday, Sept. 3, culminating in the Red-and-White game on Labour Day Monday, Sept. 5, at 3 p.m. in Crescent Point Place.
“The roster is looking good. There will be some competition in camp,” said McCall, adding he and Rudy will also be looking for an assistant to work with them behind the bench.
McCall said they’re hoping to see about 50 bodies in fall training camp, and noted the Red Wings had a very strong bantam draft, with many of those coming to camp along with their draft picks from 2015.
One of the keys for the Red Wings is to fill the two vacancies for goalie, as their top goalies from last year have now moved on.
About a quarter of the coaches in the SJHL will be new like Rudy, who said this will be good for the league.
He noted with the coaches from Weyburn and North Battleford both moving on to new higher responsibilities, this shows the level of quality of the coaching staff in the league.
“We’re bringing in young blood and new ideas. There are some great coaches also that have been around for a long time in this league. I think it’s good for the league,” said Rudy.
He also noted he’s happy to be able to stay in Weyburn with the Red Wings.
“I’ve been in Weyburn a long time. I moved here in 1998, and I’ve been a Red Wings fan for a long time,” said Rudy, noting he played for a couple of seasons with the team.
As the coach, he said the team will continue on with about 90 per cent of the systems they have been running over the last couple of years, with some new things that he will want to try out as well.
“We just want to bring a positive attitude to the team,” said Rudy.
Asked if it will help that he knows the returning players for this year’s squad, Rudy said there are positive aspects to that, but also some history as to how they play.
Rudy said his preference was to just focus on being a coach rather than trying to combine the coaching and GM duties in one position as Thoma did last season, as he operates under the belief, “Do what you do well, and focus on that,” he said.
“Bryce is a highly-motivated man and he enjoyed that role, and did it phenomenally well. So for someone to come in and do that as well as he did would be extremely difficult,” said Rudy.
Thoma has moved on as an assistant coach for the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades, after coaching the Red Wings for the past three seasons.