From Today's Regina Leader Post!

Making the playoffs is good, but 1,000 wins -- priceless

Tim Switzer
The Leader-Post


Thursday, January 31, 2008



CREDIT: Joshua Sawka, The Leader-Post
Weyburn Red Wings head coach Dwight McMillan is one win shy of 1,000 with the Red Wings.

Today will be like any other day for Dwight McMillan.

The Weyburn Red Wings head coach expects the same will be said for Friday, Saturday and for the rest of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League season.

He will get up in the morning, head to the rink and try to keep his team on the winning track as it heads toward the SJHL postseason.

But for many around McMillan and the Red Wings, these days are anything but typical and games the team plays will follow suit.

The next one the Red Wings win will be the 1,000th in McMillan's career with Weyburn.

"It's one of those MasterCard situations -- you can buy a lot of things, but can you ever put a true value on this?" said Red Wings general manager Ron Rumball.

Though Rumball has been with the Red Wings in one capacity or another since McMillan took the head-coaching job in 1972, the GM still marvels at what his friend has accomplished.

"A coach who has attained 1,000-win status with one team is about as few and far between as the come," said Rumball. "There may be other coaches that win 1,000 games -- and hopefully there will be -- but to do it with one franchise is really remarkable."

But as much as folks like Rumball will sing McMillan's praises, the head coach will never do the same.

He is the first to pass credit off to his family, to players, assistant coaches and boards of directors over the years for allowing him to get to the point where he is among a very select group.

It is believed the only coaches to accumulate 1,000 wins at one level of hockey are legendary NHL head coach Scott Bowman and equally legendary Ottawa 67s bench boss Brian Kilrea.

But through all his years of coaching, the only win that mattered to McMillan was the next one.

"As a coach, you're just trying to get ready for the next shift or the next game," said McMillan. "It doesn't matter if it's the 10th or the 1,000th, you're trying to win it. If I stopped and thought about it, I guess it would just mean that this franchise has been successful."

That has long been the style of the Lashburn product. He came to Weyburn to join the Red Wings as a player in their inaugural year in 1960. He eventually spent a little time in the minor pro leagues and had shots with the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers, but then got some good advice from a veteran player.

"He was coming down from the majors and said, 'If you're not going to play regularly with the top six and make good money, get out of here.' I was happy to get that," said McMillan, who retired in 2005 after 38 years at EnCana Energy. "I can't remember who he was but he had a wife, two kids and nice clothes. He said, 'This is all I own and I'm on my way down.' "

In 1966, McMillan married his wife, Diane, and started coaching Weyburn's junior B team. After seven seasons with that club, McMillan got the call to lead the Red Wings in 1972. Save for a few years in the early 1980s, he has been there ever since.

He and Diane raised two sons, Wade and Tyler, who played for the Red Wings and earned NCAA scholarships. Wade now lives in Franklin, Mass., while Tyler returned to Weyburn and is now an assistant coach to his dad.

His sons, like many other boys in and around Weyburn grew up wanting to play for McMillan. Kyle Haines, the Red Wings captain, moved to Weyburn when he was 13 and immediately understood what McMillan meant to young hockey players in the area.

"Coming through minor hockey, you hear a lot of stories and you see him on the ice and on the bench and someday you want to be there with him," said Haines. "He's an icon for the Weyburn Red Wings and he's a familiar face around town. Everyone knows him and he's well-respected around town."

Over the years, McMillan was named the SJHL coach-of-the-year three times, won six league titles and five Saskatchewan-Manitoba championships. He also led the Wings to national championships in 1984 and 2005 and has been an assistant coach for Canada West at the World Junior A Challenge the past two seasons.

The latest milestone on that resume -- win No. 1,000 -- could come as early as Friday night when the Wings visit the La Ronge Ice Wolves.

If that win comes Friday or in another game, most people in his life know exactly how McMillan will react.

"He'll probably celebrate just a win for the team," said Diane McMillan. "If you asked him right now, he'd probably have to ask, 'Where are we now? Nine hundred and ninety-what?' He's not that kind of person. Maybe the night of it would get him a little excited. But that's a personal (achievement). Its not as big as a win for his team."

The celebration may be quiet among the McMillan family and the Red Wings team, but it may expand within the city of Weyburn.

Mayor Debra Button, a lifelong Weyburn resident, said something so rare is a big deal for Weyburn and that McMillan represents everything that is good about the town.

"He coaches not just a team, but coaches men to turn into real gentlemen," said Button, whose husband, Greg, played for the Red Wings in the early 1980s. "The things that I hear about Dwight is the guys are not just good on the ice, but they're good ambassadors off the ice as well. Dwight turns boys into men and goes a step beyond just coaching."

While residents of Weyburn want to celebrate the 1,000th victory with McMillan, they may not get a chance to do so immediately. If the Wings lose on Friday, the team has another chance to get No. 1,000 on Saturday against the host Flin Flon Bombers. From there it is back home for a Tuesday game with the Melville Millionaires and one on Feb. 8 with the Estevan Bruins.

McMillan, however, hopes to have the big one over with well before the Red Wings return to Weyburn on Sunday.

"I'm not going to make a big deal out of it with the kids, I just want them to play the best the can," said McMillan. "Somebody can do something (to commemorate it) and that's great.

"But I feel it's just another game in the history of the Weyburn Red Wings."

© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2008

- Brad M.