Bruin president explains why Lewgood was dismissed

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Cutline: Chris Lewgood

The Estevan Bruins are looking for a new head coach and general manager (GM).

The club announced Wednesday afternoon that they had relieved Chris Lewgood of his duties with the Bruins, ending Lewgood’s seven-year tenure with the franchise.

Lewgood served as the head coach and GM of the Bruins since the summer of 2013, enjoying one of the longest tenures at this position in team history. The club made the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playoffs each of his seven years behind the bench, including a trip to the Canalta Cup final in 2017-18, when the Bruins lost in Game 7 to the Nipawin Hawks.

The Bruins reached the league semifinals in 2017 and 2019, and won the Viterra Division regular season title three straight seasons from 2017-2019. Estevan had the sixth-best record in the league in the 2019-20 season, but were the best team in the league after the Christmas break.

During his time with the Black and Gold, the Bruins hosted the 2016 Western Canada Cup tournament, and this past December, it was announced Estevan would host the Centennial Cup national tournament.

Team president Cory Prokop said the club thought a change was needed from the perspective of dealing with the local business community, particularly in the current climate.

“We just had to make sure the business community and the corporate sponsors had the utmost confidence in whoever was at the helm moving forward, and that we could count on their sponsorship dollars,” said Prokop.

Prokop believes the relationship between Lewgood and the business community had generally been pretty good, but in the last while they sensed that it might be changing. The challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic made it even more apparent to the executive that it was time for a change.

Lewgood signed a new four-year contract last year, but the value of that contract wasn’t a factor in the decision. The club’s on-ice performance was also not a factor, Prokop said.

The selection process for a new GM and head coach will begin immediately. Prokop hopes they can have someone in place next month.

Next week’s edition of the Mercury will have more on this story.