Former Redmen captain appointed men's hockey coach at McGill
MONTREAL - Jim Webster of Pointe Claire, Que.,
has been appointed interim head coach of the McGill men's hockey
team. A multilingual native of Montreal, he brings three decades of
coaching experience, including pro hockey stops in Switzerland,
Italy, Austria and Norway, plus stints at the junior college and
university levels.
Webster, 61, replaces Martin Raymond, who stepped
down last week after 14 seasons, to accept an offer from the
Montreal Canadiens to serve as an assistant coach with their
American Hockey League affiliate in Hamilton, Ont.
"We're extremely pleased to find someone with the extensive hockey
background that Jim brings," said Drew Love,
executive director of athletics and recreation at McGill. "I'm
confident that our student-athletes and the Friends of McGill
Hockey alumni support group will be very satisfied with this
decision."
Webster graduated from McGill in 1973 with a B.Sc. in physical
education, which was preceded by a commerce degree from Sir George
Williams University in 1970. He also earned a master's in physical
education from Boston University in 1975.
While at McGill, Webster captained the hockey Redmen in 1972-73,
winning the Quebec university league scoring title that year. He
also earned team MVP honours and received the University's Scarlet
Key Award for leadership.
"I'm excited about the challenge," said Webster, a Level IV
certified coach who also speaks French, Italian and German. "The
calibre of university hockey is much-improved from when I played.
Martin has done a tremendous job revitalizing the McGill program
and the core of the team is expected back, including the assistant
coaches, so I don't plan on any major changes. I like an up-tempo
style of team with an aggressive forecheck and I believe that is
precisely what we have now."
Webster played pro for two seasons with the New York Islanders
Central Hockey League affiliate in Fort Worth (1973-75), then
played for Innsbrucker EV in Austria (1976-77), before eventually
beginning a long coaching career in 1978.
Webster was a player-coach with HC Rosenborg in Norway (1978-80),
played briefly in the IHL with Milwaukee and in the AHL with the
Nova Scotia Voyageurs, then moved onto Switzerland (HC Langnau,
1980-81 and HC Zurich, 1981-82) and Italy (HC Val Gardena,
1982-83). He returned to Canada the following season to coach and
teach at Mount Royal College in Calgary, where stayed five years
and won a national championship in 1988.
Named bench boss at the University of Ottawa the next season,
Webster was then wooed back to Italy, where he guided HC Milano
(1989-91), HC Varese (1991-93) and Val Gardena (1993-94).
Since then, he has served as the technical director and resident
professional for the West Island Minor Hockey Association, was head
of instruction at National Training Rinks in Kirkland, Que., and
founded the Sport Etudes program for hockey at John Rennie high
school in Pointe Claire, Que.
The Redmen are scheduled to open training camp on Sept. 6 and their
first preseason contest is set for Sept. 19 in Trenton, Ont.,
against Royal Military College. Other non-conference games are
scheduled against the defending national champions from UNB (Sept.
25-26 in Fredericton), Ottawa (Oct. 2 at McConnell Arena) and at
UQTR (Oct. 7). The Redmen are slated to host their regular season
opener against Concordia, Oct. 16, as part of the Homecoming Week
festivities at McGill.
At season's end, a decision will be made concerning the interim
status of the head coaching position.
SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
Ï㽶ÊÓƵ
514-398-7012 (Tel.)