Another Article from Today's Leader Post!

Coaches can't fathom so many wins

Tim Switzer
The Leader-Post
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Just 973 more wins for Flin Flon Bombers head coach Mike Reagan and he will be right there with Dwight McMillan.
McMillan, the long-time head coach of the Weyburn Red Wings, is sitting on 999 wins in his Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League career, a number that his contemporaries have a tough time fathoming.
"It's just incredible to think about 1,000 wins," said Reagan, the 28-year-old first-year bench boss with the Bombers (26-20-1-2). "You go and do the math and you realize how many wins it takes per year to do that. It's a pretty remarkable feat."
McMillan, coincidentally, was 28 when he became the Red Wings head coach in 1972.
"Everybody has been joking around that that will be me in 35 years," Reagan said with a chuckle.
Most coaches, however, aren't thinking about eventually making it to 1,000 wins even for a second. Most won't be able to stay in one league long enough to reach that level. They may find more lucrative opportunities outside hockey or they may move up the coaching ranks to the major junior level or beyond.
With so many coaching changes these days in all levels of sport, it's nice just to get a few years in, said Estevan Bruins head coach Karry Biette.
"When you first get into it, no matter who you are or where you start, you're just trying to hang on with both hands and make it through the first couple years," said Biette. "It's an accomplishment that a handful of people in the history of junior hockey are going to achieve."
Look around the SJHL and only Larry Wintoneak of the Kindersley Klippers and Bob Beatty of the La Ronge Ice Wolves who have more than a decade of experience as a head coach in the SJHL. Both coaches started as head coaches in the mid 1990s and -- save for Wintoneak's two seasons in Ontario -- have been in the SJHL since.
"You're basically preparing for every game and if you worry about statistics, it takes away from that," said Beatty. "I'm sure Dwight wouldn't have been counting it down unless the league and the media were providing a lot of attention to it -- which I think is only common sense. It's a tremendous accomplishment."
Even Beatty and Wintoneak haven't be able to fully process McMillan's win total.
"Talking to him, he says, 'A win is a win. I don't know if it's my 700th or my 1,000th.' That is Mac, it's never been about him," Wintoneak said. "When you coach that long, you have to adapt. Kids have changed over the years, coaching styles have changed over the years."
McMillan's first shot at reaching 1,000 wins is to come Friday in La Ronge. Beatty said he doesn't mind being involved in a potentially historic game, but that doesn't mean he wants to see McMillan reach the milestone against the Ice Wolves.
"Dwight wants to win it not just because it his 1,000th win," said Beatty. "He wants to win it and so do I."
But will Beatty ever have the chance to reach the same total?
"I have absolutely no idea how many I have now," he said chuckling. "Part of the accomplishment is the patience and perseverance he's had in being able to stay with the team year after year. A tip of the hat to Dwight for that success.
"To do another 20 years? I don't think I'm going to make it."
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2008

- Posted by Brad M.