(File photo/northeastnow Staff)

By Ben Tompkins

Flying in a new direction

Hawks looking to move forward after relieving Johnson of duties

Dec 6, 2021 | 5:29 PM

After 11 and a half seasons with the Nipawin Hawks, which included an SJHL championship in 2018, three-time SJHL coach of the year Doug Johnson was relieved of his duties on Saturday.

The Hawks, who now sit in last place in the Sherwood Division and third last in the entire SJHL, placed assistant coach Tad Kozun in the role on an interim basis right before their 5-1 loss to the Ice Wolves in La Ronge.

Scott Anderson, president and governor for the Nipawin Hawks Organization, had a chance to speak with northeastNOW and recounted the many years Johnson spent with the team and the impact those years had on their recent success.

“That’s part of what made this so tough,” said Anderson. “Doug came in and he kind of turned this organization around, we were struggling before he came in. He did win us a championship and it wasn’t that long ago. We give Doug full credit for what he did for this team, he did a lot for the community and who knows if the Nipawin Hawks would even be here if it weren’t for some of his contributions.”

As to why the Hawks have moved on from Johnson, Anderson said it was time to turn the corner and flip to a new page.

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“We’re just looking for some positivity here and hopefully, we can start doing some new things, give the team a bit of a new look and maybe just get a fresh start.”

Starting off this new era of Hawks hockey will fall into the hands of Kozun, someone Anderson has high praise for, as he pointed out his experience dealing with both sides of the team.

“All the people in town remember Tad from his playing days with us,” said Anderson. “He was a great player for us years ago and everybody knows him, he’s got a ton of relatives around town. Just the short time I’ve been around him, I’ve actually been quite impressed with Tad and how he interacts with the players and the players seem to love him. We’re hoping that he can get the results we’re looking for.”

But although Kozun seems to be a great fit so far, Anderson mentioned he and the rest of the organization haven’t ruled out bringing in some reinforcements.

“We can see lots of different options here. The only concern with Tad is the lack of experience and we don’t want to throw him into a situation that maybe he’s not quite ready for yet. At this time we’re trying to bring in some help for Tad. We’ve talked to some different people and at this point, we would like to get some people to help support Tad and try and make him the best coach that he can be.”

And although Anderson knows Johnson will be missed, he knows moves like that are what’s needed for this organization to better itself and push itself into a better direction.

“Right at this point, we’re trying to support the players on this team and the coach on the team. We’re just trying to move forward and just make this a positive outcome.”

Anderson made sure to emphasize that point, as he wants everyone to know this organization is doing everything they can to make this team a little better, every single day.

“We’re looking forward to a bright future and we maybe don’t know how we’re going to get there quite yet but we’re working behind the scenes to do everything we can to make this hockey club better.”

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter @BenTompkins_8