Pistons in search of assistant coach

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/07/2018 (2114 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When you are the head coach and general manager of a junior hockey club, there isn’t much down time in the off season.

And such is the case for Steinbach Pistons’ GM Paul Dyck, who is in the process of cobbling together a team for next season, a team that will be the defending Manitoba Junior Hockey League champions.

“I’m looking at possibly having a 75% turnover in players from last season,” Dyck said last week, “we have a lot of spots that will be wide open.”

The Pistons are also in search of an assistant coach as Joey Moggach, who was instrumental in helping the Pistons achieve their best season ever as they won the MJHL crown, the Anavet Cup and on to the RBC National Junior ‘A’ championship, has decided to step back from coaching for the coming season.

Moggach, who spent two years as an assistant with Pistons, taking over the role previously held by Rob Smith, helped the Pistons win back-to-back MJHL pennants.

Living in Lorette with his young family, Moggach also works full time for PCL Constructors as the company allowed him the time to coach with the Pistons, but with a second child on the way, he has decided not to coach this year.

The Pistons are currently advertising for the position and with a July 9 application deadline Dyck says he hopes to have a coach in place shortly.

“Joey was a good fit for our club, working primarily with the powerplay and defence, “said Dyck, we had good chemistry, after four years with Rob Smith it was a seamless transition when Joey joined the club.”

Meanwhile, the Pistons have also filled another position in their front office as they have recently hired Lucas Pappel to take over the marketing position previously held by Kevin Geisheimer.

The MJHL recently announced their 2018-19 schedule and the Pistons will play the majority of their home games on the weekend. There will be 30 home games, although only 29 of them in Steinbach as again there will be a home game at the MJHL Showcase in December in Winnipeg.

There will be 11 games on Saturday, six on Friday and four on Sunday. Again, Wednesday is a popular night with four games on the slate. There will also be an extremely rare Tuesday night game in Steinbach as the Pistons host the Winkler Flyers on Nov. 13. The Pistons will also again host the Flyers on Louis Riel Day, Feb. 18 at 2:30 p.m. in Steinbach.

Steinbach will open the MJHL regular season at home on Friday, Sept. 21 at 7:30 p.m. as they entertain the Waywayseecappo Wolverines at the T.G. Smith Centre. The Pistons will then hit the road the following night for a game at Selkirk.

Steinbach’s last game before the Christmas break will be Saturday, Dec. 22 at Steinbach vs. the Steelers and will return from the Christmas break on Jan. 2 as they travel to Neepawa to take on the Natives.

The Pistons will close out the regular season March 2 at Steinbach versus the Selkirk Steelers.

Steinbach will also play five pre-season games, beginning Sept. 8.