A guest column . . .

This column by Sports Editor Jim Swanson appears in Monday's Prince George Citizen . . .

PRINCE GEORGE — Now is not the time to change the head coach.
No longer quiet whispers around CN Centre, this weekend brought openly stated questions of when the Prince George Cougars would make a change behind the bench.
From those involved with the visiting team, to media and off-ice officials, that option was the topic of debate. There was even a hint from the fans with a “we want a coach” chant starting up on Friday, the first of back-to-back losses to the visiting Kelowna Rockets.
But it’s not the time. It’s not the right move.
For starters, a blunt assessment — with the level of talent on this club, and the age and experience discrepancy among that talent, this team isn’t a contender. Too many mistakes have been made in the drafting and recruiting process, forcing general manager Dallas Thompson into stop-gap trading.
A little secret about the WHL — with rare exceptions, players acquired in trades should never be viewed as saviours. Instead, think of the reasons the bandages were available — because they were deemed expendable by other WHL clubs, who had evaluated their play and saw deficiencies.
Break things down with the back end — a good starting point because the Cougars are second-last in goals allowed.
Goaltender Kevin Armstrong is making his third WHL stop, and Joe Caligiuri was cut by Brandon this year. Cameron Cepek and Dallas Jackson, the top two defencemen on the team, are both with their third WHL clubs, and that’s not an accident. Cody Hobbs was destined for demotion to Tier 2 last year, about to be cut by the Chilliwack Bruins, when the Cougars offered up a seventh-round bantam pick. Colin Scherger was unlisted and a walk-on at camp.
It’s time for this team’s scouting staff, and those making decisions at the draft table, to finally answer for their work. Of the players chosen in 2004 and 2005, making them 18- and 19-year-olds at this point, an important age for a junior hockey team, only one is with the Cats — captain Dana Tyrell.
There is no other word for that productivity — FAILURE. Clearly, changes are needed.
So, evidence presented, are the coaches to blame? They share in it, but they are far from the root of the problem.
The main reason the Cougars should not make the coaching move now is because a statement has to be made to stop the cycle of reactionary, rather than visionary, decisions.
With the exception of the hiring of Stan Butler as head coach, the Cougars have always filled that position under duress. And the results have been predictable.
Dale Marquette — named interim head coach when Doug Hobson was fired. Ed Dempsey — granted the job almost by default when Butler resigned late in the 1997 off-season. Lane Lambert — lured away from Moose Jaw in October of 2003 when Dempsey’s much-too-long tenure was finally capped.
Mike Vandekamp — an eager late-summer fill-in when the relationship soured between the Cougars and Lambert. Drew Schoneck — air-lifted by his long-time friend Thompson when a combination of losing and poor off-ice choices forced the team to clean out the coaching offices.
Aside from Butler, who was hired the right way, only one of those coaches has gone on to better things. Lambert, whose time here will be remembered for the ongoing battles with star player Dustin Byfuglien, is a head coach in the American Hockey League, and no one in hockey will be surprised if he lands on an NHL bench.
All these factors have caused the Cougars to come up short in the hiring practice. When you conduct a search in October or November, the stack of resumes is rather short. Do the job search in April and May, and there’s a far better chance the right candidate will come along.
I don’t think anyone expects Schoneck to be back next season. What happens to him and assistant Wade Klippenstein, with both in the final years of their contracts — it’s not hard to come up with a theory. Schoneck is set free, while Klippenstein’s scouting skills are put to good use; he’s a former head scout, and did good work in that area for the Moose Jaw Warriors. That clears the deck to put a whole new coaching staff in place well before the 2009 training camp commences.
For the franchise to force its way into the coach-search marketplace right now is only going to revive the same history that has chopped this franchise off at the knees for more than a decade.
As painful as it very well could be for the next four months, this crippled patient requires patience. Finally, patience.