BY Jonathan Huntington
SASKATOON – Becoming a new head coach in the stretch run of a hockey season isn’t easy – but Josh Garbutt can draw on experience from several hockey masterminds.
The new bench boss of the Yorkton Kinsmen Maulers played junior hockey for Dean Clark (WHL and CHL Coach of the Year) and Kelly McCrimmon (now the GM of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights), while also being teammates with Jordin Tootoo (700+ NHL games) and Ryan Craig (now an AHL head coach).
“I want to take full advantage of the opportunity (in Yorkton),” said Garbutt, 41. “I am going to focus the kids on playing the right way and being good teammates.”
With 15 games left in the regular season, the Maulers are 10 points out of the final playoff position. The good news is nine of those tilts are home games, including tonight’s match-up with the Tisdale Trojans.
Garbutt replaces Jason Gordon after a roller-coaster campaign. Yorkton had a strong pre-season and began the regular season with four wins in eight games. But the club has only won twice since Oct. 13th.
However, Garbutt has tasted success in Yorkton before – helping the Terriers win the SJHL championship in 2004-05. “I grew up until I was 16 in Medicine Hat,” remembered Garbutt, who played U18AAA in Alberta before dressing for 184 WHL regular-season games the next three years between the Brandon Wheat Kings and Kamloops Blazers.
“My parents retired to the Yorkton area and I wasn’t interested in going to Prince George for my 20-year-old year in the WHL,” continued Garbutt, who was traded from Kamloops after his 19-year-old season.
“The GM In Prince George convinced me to try it, but I left them and went to Yorkton, where we went 14-0 to start the year.” The Terriers defeated Battlefords that spring to claim the SJHL title before losing to the Manitoba champs for the ticket to the national Junior A tournament.
Garbutt’s playing career continued with 158 minor-pro games in the United States and Europe before coming home to play senior hockey. But after more than 30 years in the game, Clark still holds the biggest influence.
“He treated you like an adult,” recalled Garbutt, who played for Clark in Brandon and Kamloops. “He demanded a lot, but was the first to praise you.”
FINISH LINES: Besides winning an SJHL title in Yorkton, Garbutt and his father also became the first father-son tandem to play for the Terriers. Garbutt’s dad played for the junior Terriers in 1972.
