May 18, 2012
In addition to his duties with the Western Hockey League's Cougars next season, Becker will step behind the bench as head coach for Team Pacific at the 2013 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge when it's hosted in Quebec, Dec. 28 to Jan. 4."It was tough to make my day any better as I was vacationing in Hawaii but it certainly did," said Becker about receiving the news. "I was just checking my emails. We had to delay our trip to the beach for about an hour but it was well worth the wait."The 37-year-old joined the Cougars in December 2009 and has served as an assistant coach to Dean Clark for the past three seasons.
"I think all assistant coaches have the dream of being a head coach at one time at a high level and this is just a small step in that direction," said Becker. "This'll be an opportunity for me to be able to take the reins and, hopefully see if we can bring back gold for Team Pacific."
No Team Pacific team has captured the gold medal dating back to the tournament's early days when it was known as the Quebec Cup.
Team Pacific has earned five silver and five bronze medals.In 2011, Team Pacific took home the bronze medal, but was forced to settle for fifth place at the most recent tournament. A pair of Cougars players have played for the team, which is made up from British Columbia and Alberta players, with Troy Bourke making the grade in 2011 and Chase Witala playing on last season's team.
When it comes to selecting players for Team Pacific, Becker will have Cougars' assistant general manager and director of player personnel Wade Klippenstein as his head scout."He's got a great eye for scouting and the experience working international events," said Becker. "He's been watching these kids for about three years now so he'll have a good background on the players that we're going to be keying in on."Becker's assistant coaches with Team Pacific will be Steve Hamilton of the Edmonton Oil Kings and Brandon West of Kelowna.The cities of Victoriaville and Drummondville are co-hosting the tournament.
Sheri LAMB
Citizen staff
slamb@pgcitizen.ca
