Bliss now chasing OFSAA gold as Muskie coach

Muskie hockey coach Shane Bliss can remember what it felt like to be in the exact position his team now sits in heading into the all-Ontario boys’ high school hockey championship.
With action getting underway here today, Bliss said it’s a different feeling to be coaching the Muskies rather than playing for them, like he did when Fort High won the gold medal in 1986 and again here in 1989.
“It’s a lot tougher and kind of hard to believe,” he said. “It’s different than when you’re playing hockey [for the Muskies] because you want to be able to go out there and do certain things.
“But you can’t and you just have to show them certain things instead,” he added.
Bliss feels, in a way, that he’s privileged to have played for the Muskies in the past and is able to relate to the experience now that he’s behind the bench.
“I remember the crowd [in 1989] and it was just phenomenal,” Bliss recalled. “It’s just like we say, you know, the good old days.
“I think when [the Muskie players] leave this tournament, that’s one thing they’re going to remember.”
Besides the cheering fans, however, the “good old days” also taught Bliss a lot about the game he loves so much.
“One thing, I think, is that as you get older, you learn things about the game that you don’t know when you’re younger,” he remarked.
Besides obviously wanting to capture the gold medal on home ice, Bliss hopes the team takes away great memories from the experience.
“I just want them to walk away with a great experience,” he said. “No matter what happens, they’re going to have these memories for the rest of their lives.
“I hope they’re all positive about it,” he added. “We’ve talked about leaving everything out on the ice because there’s nothing they can do after they shake hands.
“So, as long as they know in their hearts that they have worked hard and done everything they could, that’s all that matters.”
Bliss said the support from the town played a big role in the success of the Muskies when he was playing. And one thing he noticed about OFSAA this time around is that some things never change.
“[We’ve] got the whole town behind [us] and the whole town supporting [us],” he said. “I just really want to see them play well, you know, and whatever happens, I just want to see them play well.”