By Tim O'Donovan - Kamloops Blazers

Blazers hire U of Alberta’s Lajoie as next head coach

Jun 25, 2018 | 10:08 AM

KAMLOOPS — Serge Lajoie has become the 15th different head coach in Blazers history — and the 18th since the franchise relocated from New Westminster to Kamloops in 1981 as the Junior Oilers.

Lajoie played briefly with the Blazers in the 1986-87 season, when current team president Don Moores and Don Hay, the man he’s replacing behind the bench, were assistant coaches to Ken Hitchock.The 49 year old Lajoie is from Bonnyville, Alberta — he was head coach of the University of Alberta Golden Bears the last three seasons.

Lajoie says he was looking for the right fit to move into junior hockey coaching, and feels he’s found it in Kamloops.

“I felt with my background — teaching background, coaching background — Matt Bardsley (Blazers general manager) with his message, his philosophy,” says Lajoie, “everything just seemed to fall into place — it just felt like a really good fit.”

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When Matt Bardsley was hired as the Blazers new general manager earlier this month, he talked at length about hiring a coach who was on the same page as he is when it comes to the kind of team they want. Lajoie says he only knew of Bardsley, and hadn’t really met him until the interview for this job. But he says it became clear early in the process that they meshed on their vision.

“I know it’s cliche,” says Lajoie, “But we want to play fast and that’s not just skating, it’s thinking fast, supporting the puck quickly, moving pucks up ice quickly. The transition game has to be very quick, so that requires constant, relentless pursuit of pucks.”

Lajoie has a history of winning.Two Alberta championships in five seasons at NAIT and the last six seasons as head coach or assistant coach at the Univerity of Alberta, the Golden Bears won three national championships, where in the last two years as head coach he brought in 14 players from the Western League.

Experience, says Lajoie, that’s taught him a lot about todays junior age players.

“I had to grow with them, work with them, and I noticed that trend,” says Lajoie. “As a coaching staff we really maximized that cohesive partnership approach towards things, and it culiminated in a championship (USport) last season.”

Serge Lajoie is coming into one of the most legendary franchises in major junior hockey history. But it’s a legend that has taken a bit of a beating since its last league and Memorial Cup championship in 1995.

“To bring the Kamloops Blazers back to their rightful position as one of the best CHL organizations,” says Lajoie. “That is my responsibility and that is a sence of responsibility that I feel.”