Long-time Ridge Meadows Flames coach and general manager Jamie Fiset is leaving the junior B club.
The change for the franchise comes on the heels of one of the team’s best seasons. The Flames played for the Pacific Junior Hockey League championship and lost to the Delta Ice Hawks in a best-of-seven series that went six games and saw three of them settled in overtime.
Fiset is going to the Valley West Hawks of the B.C. Major Midget League as general manager.
The change comes after 12 seasons with the Flames. He started with the organization in the 2006-2007 season, working with goaltenders, and gained responsibility as the seasons went on.
“I loved it – it was a great hockey experience,” Fiset said of his time with the Flames. “And the group we’ve got here has done a really good job.
“It was probably the most enjoyable year I’ve had. The team is in great hands right now.”
But for Fiset, it was time for a new challenge.
He goes to the Hawks as they are building a second team, as the minor midget league is added by B.C. Hockey for the 2018-2019 season. He will be responsible for both teams.
“The opportunity to step in and build the program from the ground up is really appealing to me,” he said.
Fiset added that the midget programs revolve around high-end hockey prospects looking to squeeze every ounce of development possible out of each season. He has been involved in the B.C. Hockey High Performance Program for about 10 seasons, and enjoys that aspect of the game.
Flames owner and president Andrew Ilaender said Fiset brought a huge commitment to the junior B club.
“It was a pleasure working with him, and he’s become a good friend,” he said.
“He did a million things for the team,” said Ilaender. “He’s good with the kids, he’s the most organized guy I know, and he knows hockey.”
Ilaender said the load Fiset carried will likely be fulfilled by more than one person – there is a possibility the organization will name a GM and a director of hockey operations.
And some of Fiset’s duties may fall to people already in the organization.
All of the people people considered are local, he added.
On the ice, he said the team is in good hands with Bayne Ryshak, who Fiset watched as a player, assistant coach and now a winning head coach.
Ryshak feels fortunate Fiset saw a future coach in him.
“I really appreciate Jamie bringing me into the fold with the Flames and giving me opportunities,” Ryshak said. “I wouldn’t be in the position I am today, as a coach and a person, without Jamie.
“It’s going to be very different next year with him not around.”
He said Fiset and the rest of the team have put the Flames in a position where local players are taking pride in putting on the jersey of their hometown junior team, and hockey fans are interested, too.
“Every time I go to Save-On shopping, someone stops me to talk about the Flames,” he said.
Ilaender said Fiset goes out on a high, having won the Harold Brittain Conference in the regular season, and the team is poised for more success.
“I’m looking forward to next season already,” said the owner.