Phil Alalouf got a little more than what he bargained for when he decided it might be time to put his toes into the coaching waters of the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League.
The longtime coach and executive in South Delta and Richmond had the wheels in motion to step behind the bench for the coming 2013-14 season as an assistant when things were about to change dramatically. Alalouf was hoping to work with Leland Mack until he informed him he had accepted a job with the Burnaby Winter Club Academy and was stepping down as head coach of the Greater Vancouver Canadians.
Alalouf went through the application with B.C. Hockey and was announced as the club's fourth head coach in franchise history - following Rob Rogers, Matt Erhart and Mack. "One week I'm talking to Leland about potentially working together and the next I'm applying to be head coach," said Alalouf. "I'm very excited about this opportunity. It's going to be a lot of hard work and fun too."
What Alalouf has going for him is understanding understanding this elite provincewide league from every prospective. He was president of South Delta Minor Hockey when B.C. Hockey gave their reason for launching the BCMMHL over a decade ago. He
coached at the Midget tier one level - the age group that feeds talent into the league at the expense of potential success for their own association. He also has been a parent with his son Nathan having spent the past two seasons with the Canadians in goal.
"I was there during the meetings when the league was being created and have written cheques too," laughed Alalouf, who coached Richmond Minor's Bantam A1 team last season. "I have seen and heard everything from all angles."
Alalouf will be running conditioning camps in a couple of weeks as players make final preparations for next month's four-day tryout camp which gets underway Aug. 8. He
must initially sign 12 players and the rest of the roster will be filled out by mid-September when the picture becomes clearer what kids will be back from auditioning for major junior and junior "A" clubs.
The make-up for elite hockey has somewhat changed in the past couple of years with the launching of midget age teams by school hockey academies. Alalouf says this route can be ideal for the 15-year-olds who may not initially crack the major midget level but can benefit from another year of seasoning in these programs rather than play for their home association midget teams.
The Canadians will be holding their main camp at the Richmond Olympic Oval.
