Joey Payeur
After a season of incredible highs and devastating lows, the Muskie girls’ hockey team will follow a path of continuity into the next campaign.
Referring to a season summary letter he wrote to the squad’s parents, Todd Hamilton officially revealed himself to be the new head coach of the two-time defending NorWOSSA champs at the team’s year-end awards banquet Friday evening.
“I sent that letter home to all the parents and at the bottom I signed it, ‘Todd Hamilton, head coach of the Muskie girls’ hockey team,’” noted Hamilton, who was a first-year assistant coach with the black-and-gold last year under his best friend and head coach Scott Clendenning, who died March 16 from a heart attack while vacationing in Mexico.
The tragedy occurred just four days after Clendenning had led the Muskies to their first-ever medal at the OFSAA ‘A/AA’ championships in Kenora in claiming silver.
Hamilton’s ascension to the bench boss role had been expected but still came with its share of uneasiness.
“I wish the circumstances were different,” Hamilton said about replacing Clendenning, who had spent four seasons at the helm of the Muskies.
“Scott was my friend as well as the head coach, and it’s really not the way I wanted this to come about,” he remarked.
“But I’ll honour his memory to carry on what he started and I’m happy to do it.”
Hamilton said a shortage of time led to the school and the team’s Red Line Club booster association to act quickly in offering him the position.
“There’s so many things that need to be done ahead of the season, like scheduling,” he explained.
“Having a contact person for those kinds of things is of utmost importance to the school and the key person for that is the head coach,” Hamilton said.
“I talked to friends and family about it and then I accepted their offer, and am proud to do so.
“The key component of the job I saw with Scott was the relationships he had with the players,” added Hamilton.
“That’s invaluable and I’m going to be hard-pressed to fill that spot.”
Becoming head coach brings a whole new set of challenges to Hamilton.
“The assistant coaches and I will probably have to do things by committee to make up for all that Scott did, from scheduling to one-on-one coaching of the players and other things,” he acknowledged.
Those coaches are still to be determined, with six-year assistant coach and team trainer Michelle Van Beek also not returning due to her impending maternity leave.
“I’ve got ideas for a couple of options for teacher representatives and I’ve been thinking myself about contacting certain people for coaching assistance,” said Hamilton, who only slightly tipped his hand about any prospective candidates.
“The people involved with the team will be very familiar to the kids,” he noted.
“Since we got the news about Scott, our first priority has been to reassure the kids that the coaches, their parents, and the school are here for them and want to provide that stability for them not only when it comes to hockey but in their personal lives,” Hamilton stressed.
Further to that stability, Hamilton hopes all his veterans eligible to return next season are willing to come back despite what most certainly will be a different and, at times, difficult atmosphere surrounding the team with Clendenning’s absence.
“We want to help them be the best student-athletes they can be when the time comes for them to move on with their lives,” he remarked.
“I loved how the seniors worked well with our newer players this year and I hope next year’s group will be as welcoming to the new players.”
One of those seniors, blueliner Mallory Payne, received the final award Friday night—fittingly, the newly-created Scott Clendenning Memorial Award for perseverance.
Payne and six other seniors won’t be back in the fall, but that’s not deterring Hamilton from setting his sights high for next season.
“We set a goal for this program and now we want to take it that one further step,” he said.
“Next year, we’ve got to follow that same path to get back there.
“We purposely brought along a full roster this year because we knew we would be losing these players,” Hamilton added.
“We’ll see what our numbers are but I’m anticipating we’ll have four or five spots to fill, including two in net.
“But you don’t start a new season just to not get to OFSAA,” he stressed.
“The plan is for us to go again next year and in future years, as well.”
