Nanaimo Clippers new general manager and head coach, Darren Naylor, has ties to Victoria as a former member of the Western Hockey League Cougars.
Taking over from Mike Vandekamp, who was released just prior to Christmas, Naylor will have to wait until Jan. 9 to be introduced to the rivalry with the Victoria Grizzlies. He will, however, make his first appearance behind the Clippers’ bench today at 5 p.m. in Powell River before Nanaimo returns to face Cowichan Valley on Saturday.
“We’ll be thrown into the fire,” said Naylor, who moves into the new roles from his director of hockey operations title which he held since Wes Musio took over the ownership of the B.C. Hockey League club. “I’m not coming in to change anything. I will tweak a couple of things.
“I’ve watched the team play a lot since the ownership change. It’s a hard-working team so I’m not going to tinker with much. I’d like more offence out of the defence and get them more involved, but other than that, I’m not going to change too much.”
Naylor makes his debut in Powell River against another former Victoria Cougar, Kent Lewis, who has the Kings in first place in the Island Division at 18-10-3-3, one point up on the Clippers at 18-10-3-2.
Naylor, a White Rock native, had the likes of Len Barrie, Micha Aivazoff and Jim McKenzie — who all went on to NHL careers — as teammates with the Cougars. Naylor tallied 47 goals and 101 points in 129 games with the 1987-89 Cougars, playing under coach Wayne Naka.
“We got close a few times back then,” he said of the Cougars, who made it to the West Division semifinals in all his seasons. “The Old Memorial Arena, it was a classic. I miss it.”
Naylor finished his junior playing career — after a short stint as a 20-year-old in Swift Current — with the Vernon Lakers of the BCHL, winning the national Junior A championship. He bounced around the minors in the East Coast and Central Leagues for a handful of years and the 48-year-old has coached for 25 years now.
Naylor takes over in Nanaimo after a stint with the Delta Ice Hawks of the PJHL where his team led the league with a 26-2-0-1 record when he departed to take over the Clippers. He was the 2016-17 PJHL coach of the year, leading Delta to the championship final.
He has travelled back and forth to Nanaimo since the ownership change.
“Obviously, I’m excited. I’ve wanted to climb the ladder in coaching, so it’s a step up from where I’ve been. At the same time, it’s a lot of work and it happened a little sooner than we thought it might happen, but it’s here and we deal with it and move on,” said Naylor.
The writing was obviously on the wall with Vandekamp, as most owners will bring in their own staff. Naylor said the plan was to evaluate the team as it went on and added that Vandekamp made the decision easier because of what he called a lack of communication with Musio.
“In the amount of time Wes has owned the team, I think Mike only returned one phone call to the guy,” Naylor added.
Vandekamp has not been available for comment since the change.
So now Naylor, who is married with wife Nicole remaining at home in Aldergrove, takes over. They have two children, Sarah, who is 20 and son Jordan, 17, who tends goal with Delta.
As GM, Naylor still has two open cards remaining so he might tweak the Clippers’ roster come the trade deadline on Jan. 10.
He does look forward to future games against the Grizzlies.
“I have good memories of Victoria. I did a lot of my growing up there and I look forward to the challenge,” he said.
