The Ridge Meadows Flames have a new general manager, with the promotion of assistant coach Derek Bedard.
Bedard has been with the Maple Ridge junior B team for four years as an assistant coach under former GM and coach Jamie Fiset, whom he is replacing, and more recently running the defence as an assistant under head coach Bayne Ryshak.
Fiset announced last week that he will be leaving the team to take a position as GM of the Valley West Hawks of the B.C. Major Midget League.
Bedard will be GM and governor of the Flames. As GM, he will manage the team, handling a range of responsibilities from player transactions to game day experiences for fans. As governor he will represent the team within the Pacific Junior Hockey League.
The front office change comes on the heels of a great season for the Flames, which saw them play for the PJHL championship, pushing the Delta Ice Hawks to six games in the final series, with three of those games settled in overtime.
Bedard has a long association with Ridge Meadows Minor Hockey, from the first time he stepped on the ice through his juvenile days.
The 30-year-old is a real estate appraiser by day, but has also been the juvenile assistant coach for eight years, which has included four medals from the B.C. championship tournament – two silver and two bronze. He has also served on the Ridge Meadows Minor Hockey Association executive as the midget and juvenile division director, and also as the referee in chief – he was also once a ref.
“Hockey is definitely important in my life,” he said.
He is bringing in several minor hockey people to help run the Flames, as a part of the restructuring of the Flames off-ice staff.
That includes RMMHA president Scott Falconer, who is now the Flames alternate governor; vice-president Derek Gullmes, who will be Flames director of player development; Blaine Hallman, who is director of hockey operations; and Bobby Vermette, as advisor of hockey operations.
“We have a very healthy relationship with Ridge Meadows Minor Hockey,” he said, noting the Flames actually wear the minor hockey association’s logo as a shoulder patch.
With Bedard moving up and Fiset, who was also an assistant coach, on the way out, the Flames find themselves with two assistant coaching vacancies. Bedard is interviewing candidates to fill those, as one of his many responsibilities in his first week on the job.
“It’s a bit like drinking out of a fire hose,” he said.
He is confident in the people that the team has on board, and noted Ryshak has 10 seasons of experience in the league, between his playing and coaching careers.
The organization is coming off its most successful season since winning a Western Canadian championship in 1998.
“We want to continue down that road, and not come two games short,” Bedard said.
He said the fans noticed it too, with more than 700 coming to Planet Ice on a Wednesday night to see their last game of the year. The Flames played an uptempo and skilled game, and that’s the way the entire league is going.
“This year it was noticeable – there are more people coming to the games,” he said. “It was such a fun ride this past year.
“Now we want to strive to be a flagship franchise in the league.”