WHL Moose Jaw Warriors

O'Leary & King Sign Multi-Year Contract Extensions

Published on January 31, 2020 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Moose Jaw Warriors News Release


Mark O'Leary and Scott King will have the opportunity to put their stamp on the Moose Jaw Warriors over the next few years after each agreeing to multi-year contracts on Thursday.

"It's an important step with where our team is at, in terms of how young we are and the development of our team over the final 23 games here that everybody knows where Mark and Scott are now and in the future with the hockey club," Warriors general manager Alan Millar said.

O'Leary is in his eighth season with the Warriors and was named the team's head coach on Jan. 6, 2020.

"The first couple of weeks were a bit of a whirlwind that's for sure, but it's a huge privilege to have that title and have this kind of responsibility but one that I'm really excited about," O'Leary said.

O'Leary has served as an assistant coach with Mike Stothers and Tim Hunter on the Warriors' staff. He says he is committed to building a winning culture with the Warriors.

"I don't think that needs to be rushed, it will happen organically," O'Leary said. "There's a certain language we use, a theme to our days and how we want to play as a team and you do that over-and-over through repetition and your stamp will get put on there over time."

King joined the Warriors as a skills coach in 2015-16 and he has served on the coaching staff as an assistant coach since 2016-17.

Millar says he is pleased to have King join the organization full-time moving forward.

"He'll be entrenched here with Mark O'Leary, those two are bright hockey minds, they grew up in the game, they both come from hockey families, both with coaching backgrounds," he said.

"Both Mark and Scott bring fresh ideas, they understand today's players, they understand today's game in terms of how we want to play."

King is happy about receiving the commitment from the organization.

"that's a good feeling going forward, it gets you set where you can really dig in and do a good job and give everything you can every day and that's what it's all about, making these kids better," King said.

O'Leary says he has gotten to know King well over the past five seasons and he believes they will do well together leading the Warriors.

"We've spent a lot of hours together, so we get along really well, whether it's talking hockey or outside of hockey. The relationship is there and that's first and foremost," he said.

"The relationship that Alan, Scott and myself have, we're all on the same page in terms of what we're trying to build here, that makes it fun to come to the rink every day and it's comforting to know that you're pulling the rope in the same direction."

Warriors adding a second assistant coach

O'Leary, King, and coaching assistant Olivia Howe will be joined by another coach on the staff for next season. The Warriors plan on hiring a second full-time assistant coach.

"We'd really like to look at somebody that has some experience, somebody that potentially has a background in working with defencemen, developing defencemen, but that's not the end of the world, we want to add the best people, we want to add quality people to our staff," Millar said.

Millar believes that to be competitive in today's WHL, you need as many resources as possible.

"With the amount of work that goes into every day with video, preparations, game prep, practice prep, player development, our development camps, our work with our young prospects, our academic program, our billet program, a lot of responsibilities fall on the coaching staff," he said.

Millar said he will sit down with O'Leary after the season and decided who best fits their vision for the Warriors over the next few seasons.

"We've already had a number of people reach out, but we'll start that process at the end of the season," he said.

The Warriors want to have the addition coach in place in time for the team's development camp in June.

Moose Jaw is back in action on Friday night against the Saskatoon Blades at Mosaic Place for "Suits Up" in support of organ donation campaign night. Puck drops at 7 p.m. at Mosaic Place.

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Western Hockey League Stories from January 31, 2020


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