Habscheid ready to hit ground running with Rebels
By DANNY RODE
Finding out that Dave Struch wouldn’t be returning as Red Deer Rebels head coach didn’t faze owner, president, GM Brent Sutter.
“There was some time after the season was over to reflect and after meeting with everyone, I came to a conclusion in my mind what we were looking for in a coach.”
“It was certainly a process in that we had a number of people interested in the position and there were a number of people I was interested in,” he added while chatting with reporters on Friday.
One of those individuals was Marc Habscheid.
The 62-year-old native of Swift Current brings with him an impressive resume, having a solid 17-year playing career and even a better coaching career that started in 1993.
Once he decided to extend his hockey career from the ice to behind the bench, he joined the Las Vegas Thunder of the ECHL as player/assistant coach in 1993-94. He spent two years there before calling quits to his playing days.
He took over as GM/head coach of the Melfort Mustangs of the SJHL in 1996. That lasted just one year before he started a long and successful 18-year career in the WHL.
He was GM and head coach of the Kamloops Blazers for two seasons beginning in 1997-98 before moving to Kelowna to direct the Rockets for five years. It was in Kelowna that he won his first WHL title in 2003. The following year the host Rockets won the Memorial Cup.
It was in the 1998-99 season that he got his first taste of working with Hockey Canada as an assistant coach of the U18 team at the Nations Cup.
In 2001-02 he was an assistant coach of Canada’s U20 team at the World Juniors and then took over as head coach the following season.
In 2003-04 he was an assistant coach with Canada at the World Championships, The following season he stepped away from Kelowna and the WHL and took over Team Canada at the World Cup, Deutschland Cup, Loto Cup and Spengler Cup for the next two years. He also coached the Canadians at the Hungarian Cup in 2004-05 and was an assistant coach at the Olympics in 2006.
Marc has the distinction of playing and coaching with Canada at the World, Cup, World Juniors and the Olympics.
In 2006-07 he got his only taste of coaching in the NHL, working as an assistant with the Boston Bruins. That didn’t work out and after a two-year hiatus he was back in the WHL with the Chilliwack Bruins/Victoria Royals for three years.
After another two years away from the game he was back with the Price Albert Raiders for the next eight years, during which he won the WHL title in 2018-19.
He was also the WHL Coach of the Year for the second time in 2019, after first winning it in 2003. He was also the CHL Coach of the Year in 2003.
In 2022 his coaching career took a different road as he moved to Austria for two years.
Last year it was a year of maintenance for him as he had two hip surgeries – in October and just last month.
“Brent and I are just limping around,” he said with a laugh. “But also last year I travelled a lot. I have a place in Spain and love travelling. And with the two hip surgeries it was time to step back and to see what I wanted to do.”
What he wanted to do was return to coaching and the Rebels was the perfect spot.
He also had to smile when asked about joining the Rebels and Brent Sutter.
“I think I broke the world record,” he said. “At my age I’m probably the only player or coach, who never played with or coached with a Sutter.
“That has to be a record,” he laughed.
“I officially broke that when I signed yesterday,” he said during the media conference on Friday.
Sutter wasn’t thinking of that when he talked with Habscheid about signing.
“I thought of the longevity and success he’s had as a coach,” Sutter said. “The knowledge of the game. We think the game a lot alike. We coached against each other and we both have had a lot of success.
“One thing that always stood out to me was when I coached against him that his team was well prepared., they played with discipline and structure and played hard. They were tough to play against.
“I always respected the way he had his teams prepared.”
Sutter couldn’t have been happier with Habscheid’s decision to accept his invitation to join the Rebels.
“I was thrilled Habby wanted to be in Red Deer and to coach the Rebels,” Sutter said. “We have an identity here and his teams played with the same identity, so at the end of the day I was really excited he was on board and wanted to be part of our organization and the way we do things here.”
Habscheid felt the same way.
“Brent and I come from similar upbringings. We’re both farm kids and one year apart, so we played a lot against each other and coached against each other. We never really met but we’ve talked a lot and we’re friends already.”
Even recovering from his hip surgeries Habscheid was looking to return to the bench.
“At 62 I’m not young but not old and I honestly didn’t want to retire. I missed the coach’s office. The laughs after winning or losing. I missed the people. I want to be back and enjoy that and give back to this organization.”
He knows what it takes to build a winner and that starts from the bottom up.
“I think when you build a house the foundation is the most important part.”
He wants to be a part of that.
“I don’t want to just be part of this organization. I want to be part of the city. I think to win in the end it just doesn’t take one player, one line, one coach, one trainer or one of the staff, but it takes everybody and that includes the city and area. It important if we’re going in that direction. I want the city of Red Deer to be part of it, and we’ll give a lot back to the community.”
He also knows it’s a process.
“Everybody has their strengths and weaknesses but most important we have to realize we’re not here to solve world hunger, we’re hockey players who are here to play hockey, not ‘work’ hockey.
‘I want teams who work hard but you have to enjoy coming to the rink, love it. We want players to work hard, hate to lose, love to win.”
Habscheid isn’t one to step in and expect things to be handed to him.
“I don’t ask for much, maybe a small white board to write on. There’s a sign that follows me around that says, ‘It’s a privilege not a right”. Many feel that means the players but for me it’s as a coach.
“It’s a privilege to be here, it’s not my right. I’m very appreciative to be here. This isn’t about just one person it’s everybody. It’s important to make everyone feel they are a part of the solution.”
Habscheid hasn’t had a lot of time to look at the players but knows “we have good goaltending and a good blueline, and will work to score.
“When I played, I loved the offensive side and the creativity but that’s a process.
“I want the players to play together because they want to not because they have to. It’s a choice, they want to do it for the right reasons. Then we’ll build something.”
To help build a winner Habscheid isn’t against using what he’s learned from coaching around the world.
“I learned a lot from coaching in Austria,” he said. “They do things different over there. Hockey isn’t the No. 1 sport, it’s soccer. Their training is different. It’s not bad and there are things I can bring back.
“I can filter out what I saw. Canada is still a good way, but a smart coach can see something that can be a benefit.”
One thing Habscheid will do as soon as he’s settled down is have coffee in the morning.
“It’s camaraderie and just getting together in the morning and having some laughs. Not even talking hockey,” he said. “When the players see that your organization and your staff are tight, they love to come to the rink with smiles on their faces. When they lose, they fix it and love to be part of it.”
