On Tuesday the Drayton Valley Thunder announced that head coach Sean Brown had stepped away from his duties and would be replaced as interim coach by Corey Bricknell. The organization cited “personal reasons” for the change. The following interview was conducted prior to the announcement of Brown’s departure.
With the playoffs approaching, the Drayton Valley Thunder are fighting to make it into the last slot in the Alberta Junior Hockey League North Division.
Head coach Sean Brown says that while the team may not be doing as well as he hoped, he admires how the players have held it together after some disappointing results.
“It can’t be an easy situation as a player. It’s definitely not an easy situation as a coach,” says Brown.
He says the team still shows up with motivation and is working to improve.
One of the issues, says Brown, is that they are a younger team. Many other teams in the league have older players. The Thunder has many players born in 2004, and they don’t have the same years of experience under their belt.
“You don’t know what you don’t know. That little lack of experience kind of hurts us,” he says.
Brown says it’s a game of mistakes. The players need to be able to learn from those experiences. But Brown says those mistakes keep happening at the wrong time, which can make it difficult for the team to recover.
He says the players put a lot of pressure on themselves and it can be difficult for them to keep their chins up if the team has several losses.
“There’s a lot of pressure in hockey at all levels. The higher you go, the pressure just becomes more magnified,” he says.
Brown says some of the pressure the kids put on themselves can be a good thing. They all have hopes of going to school or playing at higher levels in the league. He says this helps them to stay motivated to win.
He says the coaches work with the players to give them support and some techniques they can use to help themselves manage the pressure. “They’ve got a lot on their plate. They’re all living in a city as billets, away from their homes and meeting new friends. But they’ve handled it well.”
To be good at the game, Brown says the players have to be mature beyond their years to handle the stress. He says he enjoys talking to the players and helping them navigate through some of the issues.
“Again, it’s young teenagers going through a lot,” he says. But the coaching staff are hoping that the challenges and adversity will shape them into stronger players.
Brown says the thing he wants the players to understand is how close they are to making it. Many of the players know or have played against members of the Canadian Junior Hockey team. From there, he says it’s not much of a stretch to then be playing with or against Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid.
“It’s really that close. We have some kids with elite skills and ability,” he says. “It really is a fine line and they don’t understand it yet.”
With Brown’s experience as a player in the NHL, he’s in a position to give advice and encouragement to the kids. He says he works to reassure them, give guidance, and offer support when it’s needed.
“No one likes losing, but I believe in the kids,” says Brown. He says he firmly believes the team has a strong chance of securing a spot in the playoffs.
