hunchak
Dave Hunchak when coaching in Moose Jaw

The New Head Coach of the Kamloops Blazers is enjoying his time at the Memorial Cup in Saskatoon.

Dave Hunchak, who was an assistant coach in Swift Current and Head Coach in Moose Jaw, was recently named Head Coach in Kamloops after two years as Associate Coach.

He expects it to be a relatively simple transition as Guy Charron and he behaved almost like co-coaches over the past two seasons. Charron will be stepping into more of an advisory role on the staff now.

So how has Hunchak evolved as he takes on his second head coaching gig in the WHL?

"I made mistakes in Swift Current, made mistakes in Moose Jaw and certainly made mistakes in Kamloops," Hunchak said. "I think it's how you evaluate yourself and how you learn from those mistakes that makes you better."

Click here for the full interview with Hunchak

"A title is just a title. It doesn't define who you are as a person... it's important to be who you are."

The Blazers have gone from a decade of struggles to back-to-back winning seasons since Hunchak joined their staff. He credits their ownership change for starting the ball rolling on a new identity in Kamloops.

"(Players) bought in to the way Blazer hockey needs to be played," Huchak said. "There's an identity that we play to and they understand that. When the players come back to camp there are certain expectations to meet and if you don't meet those expectations the bottom line is you don't play... whether you're 20 or you're 16."

Hunchak plans to hire another coach for his staff and will be working with Charron to see how the former Head Coach's role will work in conjunction with him.

The former Blades player is in Saskatoon as part of the radio broadcast team for the Memorial Cup.

"It's been a fantastic event, the support has been great," Huchak said.

He is providing pre and post game analysis on a Saskatoon radio station and said it has provided him with a new insight into what members of the media have to do when covering the sport.

Hunchak called Portland the team to beat early in the tournament. The WHL Champions beat Saskatoon 4-2 on Wednesday night to wrap up the round robin with a 2-1 record and a bye to the semi-final on Friday. Halifax also finished 2-1 and won a bye right to Sunday's final.

Saskatoon and London will play in the tie-breaker game on Thursday night to determine the team who will advance to play Portland on Friday. London beat the Blades 3-2 in the opening game of the round robin, but they've lost two straight games since then and have given up a combined 15 goals over those two games.

Puck drop is 6pm at the Credit Union Centre.