Blazers' new associate coach Don Hay addressing the Kamloops media on Tuesday (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Chad Klassen

DON HAY IS BACK

‘I was really caught off guard’: Hay returns home to Blazers in surprise move

Aug 2, 2022 | 2:52 PM

KAMLOOPS — The last time Don Hay faced the Kamloops media as a Blazers coach, majority owner Tom Gaglardi had just fired him.

Gaglardi claimed Hay had “retired” and was finished with coaching. He was not. The then-64 year old joined Mike Johnston in Portland for the next four years.

However, after a few conversations with current Blazers coach Shaun Clouston, Hay is coming back home.

“I just didn’t expect something like this to happen. I was really caught off guard,” said Hay at the Sandman Centre on Tuesday morning. “I really enjoyed our time with Shaun together and getting to understand his philosophies and talked about my philosophies, then it just kept on growing from there.”

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Hay is the third associate coach under Clouston in the last three years. The Blazers head coach and GM, who may need to step away to scout players during the season, says he had his eyes on Hay.

“Don was a name that came up and we were very intrigued by the possibility of having Don come back and help coach the team,” he said.

It’s Hay’s third stint with the Blazers. The first was the most dominant junior hockey run ever with the Blazers winning three Memorial Cups in four years, including two with Hay as head coach.

His second stint, from 2014 to 2018, saw Hay become the winningest coach in league history, earning his 743rd win in Kamloops on Jan 27, 2018. That, however, was the pinnacle of his second term here. By season’s end, he was kicked to the curb as the team cleaned house.

For Hay, it was a conversation with Gaglardi that made coming back palatable after that sour taste.

“I think we talked through that situation. I met with Tom, talked with Tom. We had a good discussion about things,” said Hay. “I think what’s most important right now is where the team’s heading. It worked out for me. I created a new role for myself [as associate coach in Portland] that I really enjoyed and to have the opportunity to come back is really special.”

Hay says it wasn’t so much having the opportunity to coach in another Memorial Cup — which he’s looking forward to — but the opportunity to be close to family and spend more time with them.

“They’re excited and happy to see me back. Now I can do things with him after a day is done here. They can come and enjoy the games. They’ve always been Blazers fans, they’ve always come to games,” he noted. “In the winter time, I can go out and shovel the driveway and not have my wife worried about that. It just gives you a real ease of mind.”

Hay has the opportunity to finish where he started in Kamloops — and potentially with the Memorial Cup once again in his hands.