Not only is Merritt Centennials head coach-general manager Wes McLeod an alum of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL), but so are his assistant coaches – Tyler Steel and Joey McEwan. Both are also Centennials alumni.
Steel began his junior hockey career with the Sicamous Eagles in 2009/10. He then moved onto the BCHL and played three seasons for the Centennials, and then three at Brown University in the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
Steel returned to the Centennials in the BCHL in 2022-23 as a goalie coach and helped with pre-scouting. With the Centennials joining the KIJHL, Steel stayed on as an assistant coach.
KIJHL: What has the transition been like to go from the BCHL to the KIJHL?
TS: It’s definitely been different in terms of recruiting as you’re looking at different levels of play, places where players are coming from, but it’s good for Merritt and the organization. It’s going to be a really good change, a better fit playing in the KIJHL – more local players playing for the team, more local competition.
KIJHL: When the changeover was happening, did you basically make it known that you wanted to be part of the club right away? How did that process happen?
TS: I introduced myself to Brad Anstey and throughout I let him know that I’d be willing to help out wherever needed and ended up in this spot.
KIJHL: Why was it important for you to continue with the organization?
TS: I didn’t grow up here, but I played my junior hockey here 15 years ago and call it home. I have a wife and two kids and am really passionate about the town and team, being an alum. I just want to see it succeed.
KIJHL: How do you want to make an impact with this first group of players?
TS: The biggest thing is our identity, what we want to be in this league, and how we want to be seen. Not only by other teams, but by our community. Merritt is kind of a blue-collar town and we expect to be a blue-collar team. It’s trying to bring that message to the players and show them that knowledge and background. It’s informing them on what locals are like and trying to integrate them.
KIJHL: Do the guys know about your playing background, including Brown University? Does knowing that help them to listen to you?
TS: I don’t know if they listen to anything I say. I have no idea what they know, what they don’t. I try to stay a bit under the radar and talk when it’s important to and know my role. I hope that if they are to find that out, that it resonates with them and shows me having played in this league 16 years ago and where I got to in my playing career, that it’s an inspiration for them.
KIJHL: Touch on playing in the NCAA and how your playing experiences help you with being the coach you want to be to help develop the players and get them to where they want to go?
TS: I think anywhere you play, you pick things up whether it’s from your own personal experiences or guys you play with or a coach you play for or organization. It’s trying to take a little bit from each place and take the best of it and put it forth to our team.
KIJHL: You started your junior career in Sicamous, do you remember what that experience was like?
TS: It was eye-opening. It’s a different type of league and there were a lot of older players, more fighting. It’s definitely changed, more of a developmental league, a stepping stone to the next level. I played as a 16-year-old kid but it was a huge step in my progression and career.
KIJHL: What are the differences that you see in the league compared to when you played?
TS: It’s the skill. There are way more high quality players coming with aspirations of playing Tier 1 and then NCAA Division I. Most kids when you talk to them, that’s their goal and when I played there were older guys who had different career aspirations. Now almost every guy wants to play at that next level.
McEwan began in the KIJHL with the Columbia Valley Rockies in 2006-07, racking up 120 penalty minutes in 34 games. He also played with the Creston Valley Thunder Cats the next season, while also playing in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League and the Centennials in 2009-10. McEwan spent a season in NCAA Division III with Marian University on a scholarship, then transferred to Arizona State University, helping them become the best program in the U.S. for three years. McEwan has been an assistant coach in the KIJHL with the Fernie Ghostriders, an assistant coach/assistant GM with the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Drayton Valley Thunder. McEwan has also worked with B.C. Hockey in their High Performance Program.
KIJHL: What’s your role with the Centennials?
JM: I do video and work with the defenceman and fill in when I’m most needed. I do a lot of skill work and fill in the spots where Wes and the staff need me.
KIJHL: What’s it like to be back in the KIJHL where you started your junior career?
JM: It’s pretty surreal, a good feeling. It’s exciting coming back to Quesnel and I remember when I played for the Centennials, and playing in Quesnel, it’s nice to see that they have a team again and I’m excited for the season.
KIJHL: What type of coach will you be based on how you played?
JM: Being an enforcer/energy guy allows me to wear my heart on the sleeve as a coach and show my passion. The game has changed. It’s got so much quicker and faster and there’s not so much fighting anymore. It’s more about competing, the battles and hunting for pucks.
There is no fighting in college so I had to transition my game and hone my skills. I’ve really seen over the years it’s developed into a really fast, exciting game to watch.
KIJHL: What motivates you to help these guys develop into the players that they want to be?
JM: I’ve been coaching Junior A for the last three years as an assistant and the biggest thing is working with the player and helping him get to that NCAA college program or any college program. Working with the players every single day is a really big motivator.
