It was early on in the press conference Wednesday morning when Brad Knight let his feelings be known, mere minutes after officially being named the new general manager of the Victoria Grizzlies of the B.C. Hockey League.
"It felt fantastic to have the opportunity to put this logo on today," he admitted, donning a Grizzlies' golf shirt with the team cresting situated right over his heart, which he didn't have a hard time speaking from.
"I jumped at the chance. I'm not going to lie to you, it's on my bucket list. Who doesn't have running a Junior A hockey club on their bucket list? It's just a great opportunity."
It didn't stop there.
"I'm excited about where we're going. I love the West Shore, in particular I love this area, this rink and the facility," he added while standing in the upstairs lobby at The Q Centre.
And the 42-year-old isn't planning on any major overhauls as he prepares to settle into his new position.
Having spent the last two seasons with the Nanaimo Buccaneers of the VIJHL (one as GM and head coach and the other as just head coach), Knight knows what he's getting into as he's kept a close eye from afar.
"I think the organization had a fantastic year, given the changes that were thrown at the kids," he said of the team which let former GM Bill Bestwick go in December, replacing him with Pete Zubersky, who just hired Knight. "I thought they handled themselves well and I thought the organization handled itself well, and I'm absolutely, 100-per-cent delighted to be here. I'm really excited and optimistic (about) Grizzlies' hockey."
His first order of business is likely to sign head coach Craig Didmon - who he has coached and played against throughout his career - to an extension and begin the process of building his team for the 2014-15 season.
The Grizzlies will be laden with locals, although they do still have camps coming in May in Kamloops (which Knight will attend) and Colorado (which Didmon is slated to run) and then in Chicago in June.
Knight says the team is reloading not rebuilding.
"We're not far off. We don't have to blow up the organization or add a bunch of players," he insisted. "We're going to add quality guys.Obviously we'll look for Victoria first - Vancouver Island and local. The ownership group wants a local feeling, which I totally agree with."
Knight continued to discuss his philosophies and business plan, but what struck me most was when I asked of his upbringing, where he was born and where he played his hockey.
He then went on to tell a warming story of his dad, Ray, who passed away 17 years ago.
"He played junior hockey with the old Port Alberni Lucky's," he explained.
Ray met and eventually married Barb Harman and Brad shared a tale of how he and his Nanaimo Clippers' teammates (he played there for four years) would listen to old tape of play-by-play man Jim Robson, who called those Port Alberni games.
"They were on tape because my grandfather (Charlie Harman) was blind and he listened to them on these old reel-to-reels," Brad said proudly on this day of his hiring. "Dad would have loved to have seen this day."
