Brent Batten is no longer head coach and general manager (GM) of the Grand Forks Border Bruins.
Batten was relieved of his head coaching and GM duties last Wednesday night amidst an 0-20 start to the season (Grand Forks has played three games since).
“It was just the overall performance of the team,” Border Bruins’ President Ward Faust explained when asked about the reasons for the move but he added there were some positives that the former coach and GM brought.
“He recruited all the players that we have here so he gave us a foundation to work from,” Faust said.
“He’s definitely a positive guy, a friendly guy. Everybody loves him and he’s a great guy.”
Team captain Jacob Bergeron, who was one of the players Batten brought in, was saddened to hear that Batten would no longer be behind the bench and reaffirmed what Faust had said about his popularity.
“I thought he was a great coach. I didn’t have any problems with him or anything like that and none of the guys did,” Bergeron said.
“All of the guys loved him. We were sad to see him go.”
Batten could not be reached for comment.
Assistant Coach Matt Zamec will serve as interim head coach until a replacement is found and Faust said there is no timetable for finding a replacement.
“It’s kind of hard to talk about,” Zamec said when asked about Batten’s firing.
“It’s just one of those things that happens in hockey. We’re a team that’s (currently winless) and a team in need of change.
“One of the things that kind of prompted it was, we feel like we’re losing the support of the community and we need to make a change to show that (the organization and the board) are serious and get the community behind us again,” Zamec said.
“It was hard because Brent was a great guy and everybody got along with him.”
The Border Bruins are currently last in both the Neil Murdoch division and the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League, sitting with an 0-23 record.
The team has three road games this week; the Columbia Valley Rockies on Friday, the Fernie Ghostriders on Saturday and the Golden Rockets on Sunday.
The Border Bruins’ next home game is against the Nelson Leafs on Thursday, Dec. 1 at 7:30 p.m. at Grand Forks Arena.