This season the North Van Wolf Pack will test the old sports cliché that the only thing harder than winning a championship is repeating as a champion.
As tests go, however, this one will certainly be demanding. The Wolf Pack, coming off their first-ever Pacific Junior Hockey League regular season and playoff championships, will attempt to reach the top again this year except they'll be without their top seven scorers from last year.
PJHL superstars such as Spencer Quon, who holds most of the team's all-time scoring records, his talented twin brother Dyllan Quon, captain Brodyn Nielsen and last year's scoring leader Mitch Crisanti all maxed-out their junior B eligibility, while youngsters such as Alex Ambrosio, Henry Cleghorn, Matthew Hermary and Scott Munroe parlayed strong rookie seasons with the Pack into promotions to the junior A level.
The departures extend onto the bench as well with Matt Samson, the only head coach and general manager the franchise has ever known, moving on to take an assistant coaching position with the Merritt Centennials of the BCHL.
Elias Godoy, entering his fourth year with the team, has taken over GM duties while maintaining his spot on the bench as an associate head coach. Bayne Koen, who joined as an assistant coach last season, will take on head coaching duties.
With all that turnover you could forgive the team for setting their sights a little lower than last year, but that is definitely not the case with the Wolf Pack this year, according to Godoy.
"We're the team to beat because we won it last year," he says. "We're going to have that target on our backs, but we're excited for the challenge. Our goals are to be right back where we were last year and just have a better showing at Cyclone."
That would be the Cyclone Taylor Cup, the provincial junior B championship tournament. After winning the PJHL title last year the Wolf Pack finished fourth out of four teams in their first trip to the Cyclone Taylor Cup.
The team knew that several of those players would not be back this year but the big surprise came in late July when it was announced that Samson — the man who built the team from scratch along with his father Dean, who is staying on as the team's CEO — would not be coming back for the 2015-16 season.
"My initial thought was it's a lot more work for me," Godoy says with a laugh, recalling the moment he found out Matt was leaving. "I was excited for him. It's obviously a big thing for him and his family and the organization to see him move up the ladder and go on to the next level. Obviously it's something he's looked forward to for a while here. It's exciting. Me and Matt grew up together so I'm excited for him and his family. And I'm excited for the new role for me as well. Getting into GM stuff is something that has always intrigued me and I was excited to take on that role."
Godoy and Matt Samson worked as a coaching team during their three years together and that type of system will continue with Koen as the head coach, Godoy says.
"I've known Bayne probably 15 or 20 years," he says. "We'll continue to do the same things that me and Matt did.... We make all the decisions together — it's just more paper pushing for me than Bayne."
Koen's coaching helped the team claim its first title last year, Godoy says.
"He was a big part of the team. He helped out with the D corp, he comes from an experienced background coaching and playing hockey. It was big for us to have him and knowing that we had a team that could win a championship and go the distance, having that experience on the bench helped us as well."
On the ice the coaches will be counting on forward Nyshan Basra and defenceman Shane Kumar, two 20-year-olds in their final junior seasons, to lead the way.
"They've been around the league, played for us a few years, know what's expected," Godoy says, adding that Kumar will wear the captain's C. "He's a very passionate player, very solid on the back end. Good defensively, and then has that offence ability, which is hard to find — A lot of guys are either one or the other, defensive or offensive. The fact that he can do both, like a Dyllan Quon last year, it's huge to have that back there. We can rely on him for big minutes, especially down the stretch this year. He's a big guy, he likes to lay body. He can get out there and calm things down when the game gets a little wild at times."
Other leadership will come from a group of second-and third-year players including forwards Mitchell Ledyard, Ian Creamore and Jackson Tadey and defencemen Troy Ring and Connor Pasco.
"We've got a good, young core," says Godoy. "Our young guys from last year, this is the year they're stepping up and going to become leaders.... We're looking for them to show the rookies how things are done."
One area where there will be a lot of continuity is in the crease with Trevor Withers, last year's starting goaltender, back with the team. In the regular season Withers was top-four in the league in wins, save percentage and goals-against average and he kept it up in the playoffs, posting a 12-3 record with a 2.56 goals-against average and .913 save percentage during the championship run. This year Withers will be backed up by Brock Leach-Moore, who performed well when he saw some action last season as an affiliate Wolf Pack player.
The team's rookie crop is headlined by defencemen Shane Kime and Samuel Atkins.
"They're good players, (we're) excited about them," says Godoy. "Offensive guys, good speed, see the ice well. Kind of similar players, actually, which is interesting."
Slick forward Aiden Wagner and basher Caleb Holonko are expected to provide an impact up front, Godoy says.
"I think fans are going to like (Holonko). He's a hard worker, likes to lay body."
The team has already played a pair of exhibition games against the Langley Knights — a 4-3 overtime loss on the road and 6-2 win at home — and will begin the season on the road Thursday against those same Knights. The home opener is scheduled for Saturday night against the Abbotsford Pilots at Harry Jerome arena.
"The team is looking good," says Godoy. "We have a lot of speed. We're looking to play a fast game this year, quick transitions and just get on the offence when we can. We have a lot of D-men who can move the puck and a lot of speed up front. That's a good combination."
Godoy hopes fans are going to like a lot about this team, building on the strong support North Shore hockey folks provided the Wolf Pack during last year's championship run.
"I think we're going to be pretty good again," he says. "We're excited. I'm hoping we have the support in the community again this year. It was great last year and we're excited to have more people come out and support us. Obviously people like winning, so we're going to try to keep doing that."
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The Wolf Pack will hold a ceremony before their Sept. 12 home opener to raise the championship banner they claimed last season and introduce the new team. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. against the Abbotsford Pilots at Harry Jerome arena.
