Woods Excited To Come Home To Saskatchewan
Thirty years after it pried him away, the game led him back to where it all began.
Bob Woods, the new general manager and head coach of the Saskatoon Blades, wouldn’t have had it any other way.
“I’ll have to make up for lost time,” he laughed. “No matter how your career branches off, a big part of you always wants to come back and beclose to your family. I didn’t get the chance to visit as much as I would have liked over the years, but I’ll be around a lot more now.”
Welcome home.
Woods played one season with the Brandon Wheat Kings, recording 21 goals and 77 points, before being selected by the New Jersey Devils with the 201st pick in the 1988 NHL Draft. After spending 13 years traveling the professional playing circuit, with stops in Europe and the International, East Coast and American Hockey Leagues, he began coaching where the majority of his playing days were spent, in the league where – to this day – he holds the all-time record for career goals among defencemen with 159.
Stepping behind the bench in 2001 with the ECHL’s Mississippi Sea Wolves, Woods amassed 179 wins in 288 games over four seasons, leading the squad to an appearance in the Kelly Cup Playoffs in each year before moving on to the American Hockey League.
In conjunction with a prolific playing career, in which he dressed for 599 career games (the sixth-most all time), Woods was inducted to the ECHL Hall of Fame in 2012.
“It’s been an incredible journey,” he said. “I’ve been fortunate to work with some talented people over the years. In hockey – and in coaching, especially – the landscape can change so quickly, but I’ve had many wonderful opportunities that have led me here.”
The 46-year-old product of LeRoy has spent the past two seasons with the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League, holding the assistant title under longtime coaching consigliere, Bruce Boudreau, with whom he was reunited after several years with the Washington Capitals and their WHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears.
“I’ve got a great mentor – the best anyone could ask for,” he said, adding that Boudreau was his biggest supporter in the decision. “I’ve known and worked alongside Bruce for the past 15 years and it seems like I learned something new every day. Our biggest strength as a coaching staff was our ability to motivate guys, pushing them to reach or even exceed their potential as elite athletes. That’s why we were successful. Guys believed they could accomplish anything, and that was our biggest source of pride. Bruce and I set goals and our players believed in them.”
Wins, there were many. Ditto division titles, goals galore – the recompense of an up-tempo, offensive brand of hockey spurred by the progressive types. Talent, aggression and puck possession led to the Ducks scoring 266 goals last season, one fewer than the NHL-leading Chicago Blackhawks.
Under Woods, expect a similar brand to be played out of the Credit Union Centre.
“The next thing you know, you’re winning championships,” he said.
Which is precisely why the opportunity here, home in Canada’s Breadbasket, is the right one for this passionate trailblazer – a man whose greatest reward is enjoying the fruit of his myriad success on the front lines of player development.
“I have a passion for this,” Woods, who has 13 years of professional coaching experience under his belt, said of the opportunity in Saskatoon. “It’s extremely gratifying to be part of somebody’s future, to help them chase their dreams and get them to the places they want to go.
“I’m big on communication. I talk to my players all the time and offer any and all feedback, but it’s also about asking the right questions. ‘What can I do to help you?’ Their interests are my interests. We’re all working toward to the same goal here.”
It’s one shared by Mike and Colin Priestner, Steve Hogle and the entire Blades organization. Woods was eager to thank them all in a phone interview late Sunday night, commending the club’s commitment to winning here along the handsome prairies and wheat-lined waterways.
“I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity. This is something I’ve always wanted to do — to become part of a new era and add to an organization with an incredibly bright future. Throughout the (hiring) process, it was apparent to me how passionate the organization is about the direction they’re heading. When you’re shopping for a new house, sometimes you walk into one and in a second it’s the right fit. It’s home. That’s exactly what happened here. My wife (Mary Sue) have been graciously welcomed into the Blades family and we couldn’t be happier and more thankful for that.
“We’re part of something special here.”
– Ryan Dittrick, NHL Writer
