All roads lead to Rome for Wheaties

The Brandon Wheat Kings looked back to the future as they filled out their coaching staff on Tuesday.

The Western Hockey League team announced Tuesday that 42-year-old Aaron Rome will be rejoining the club as an assistant coach, days after they also hired fellow Brandonite Ryan White to serve alongside Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray. Rome served as an assistant coach under David Anning during the 2016-17 season, and then worked as a skills coach for two years.

He said the time was right to return to the WHL.

“I took some time away from coaching 10 years ago when my kids were really young,” Rome said. “They’re busy, and you want to be able to watch them play and be around them when they’re growing up.

“That was a big reason for me back then to step away. Now they’re older and my son is driving and they’re able to do a little bit more on their own. A big thing for me is that I want to get back into the game at a higher level. I feel like I have lots I can offer kids at that level in terms of mentorship.”

Rome and wife Adrianne’s children Grayson and Logan are also both terrific athletes, with Grayson playing AAA baseball and on the under-17 Wheat Kings team that won a provincial hockey championship in the spring. Meanwhile, Logan has played U15 AAA hockey and softball.

Rome coached minor hockey for the last decade and watched a lot of hockey, including the Wheat Kings, so he has stayed active in the game.

“I like coaching,” Rome said. “Over the last 10 years I’ve got a lot out of coaching at lower levels, and I want to get back into hockey and see where we can go with coaching. This just seemed like a natural fit, being close to home and in an organization I’m pretty familiar with. That’s the appeal for me, and working with two quality guys on the bench in Marty and Whitey.”

The farm kid from the Nesbitt area, which is located about 34 kilometres southeast of Brandon near Wawanesa, played his AAA hockey with the Southwest Cougars.

Rome was drafted in the sixth round by the Saskatoon Blades in 1998, and also spent time with the Kootenay Ice, Swift Current Broncos and Moose Jaw Warriors.

“I think it helps for sure,” Rome said of capitalizing on his time in the WHL as a coach. “We have that experience of moving away from home at a young age, really learning how to play the game at that level. For kids who are aspiring to play at higher levels, that’s your first real taste of professional hockey, or as close as you can get to it.

“We can share some of the experiences we’ve had and we can emphasize when kids are having tough go because it’s a long season and everybody is going to go through ups and downs. I think we can relate to the kids on that level.”

Rome was subsequently selected in the fourth round (104th overall) of the 2002 NHL draft by the Los Angeles Kings, and suited up with the Anaheim Ducks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Vancouver Canucks and Dallas Stars. He went on to skate in 10 full pro seasons and the start of an 11th prior to retiring during the 2014-15 season.

Rome and Murray actually played together briefly with the American Hockey League’s Manitoba Moose during the 2009-10 season when Rome was sent down on a conditioning assignment, and he played with White in the summer league in Brandon.

“He’s a guy who grew up around the game and he played the D position at the highest level and had success,” Murray said. “He understood what it took to be an every-day NHL player and has coached in our league before. He’s coached recently in youth hockey. We were looking for somebody to really take hold of the D and almost take it personally, that it’s their pride and joy.”

The Western Hockey League club announced in early May it wasn’t renewing the contracts of Mark Derlago and Del Pedrick, creating a pair of vacancies.

Between Murray (300 WHL, 502 AHL, 270 NHL), White (324, 320, 332) and Rome (338, 365, 245), the team has a combined 962 games of WHL service in the regular season and playoffs, 1,187 games in the American Hockey League and 847 games in the NHL.

“It’s a little bit rare,” Murray said. “It’s three guys who took different paths and different roles. We all had to adjust our roles from what we were a little bit, and I think it’s something we can draw on as coaches and hopefully pass onto the players. Players can understand we’ve been there.”

White and Rome both played hard minutes in the NHL, and were known for their physical and intense play. It’s been a topic of conversation among the three in the last week, and they hope that approach to the game translates to the Wheat Kings this season.

“Whitey and I played different positions but I would say our path to the NHL was very similar in a lot of ways,” Rome said. “Whitey was a very hard-nosed, blue-collar, heart-and-soul player, and at the junior level could score and was a skilled guy.

“He had to change his game with each level he moved up, so I would say that was very similar to my path to playing in the NHL. I think we can bring that perspective to the kids, or try to share our experiences with them and help them with that.”

Rome noted at the highest levels, the most competitive and relentless teams are usually the most successful. He said everyone is skilled now, so it’s the way a team plays together combined with a hard-working mentality that breeds success.

“We want to be a team that plays with heart and skill,” Murray said. “Those guys both understood what it took to survive every day in the NHL. They knew they couldn’t take a day off and that’s the message we want to get across to our guys, that the expectations are high and we’re coming to work every day. We’re going to have fun doing it but we’re going to get something out of them every day and those guys lived it and made careers out of it.”

While Rome may have had an old-school mentality on the ice, you can’t have that on the bench anymore. The game and its players have changed, and a kinder, gentler approach is a must for today’s coaches.

Rome said he noticed it really beginning to change about a decade ago during his initial tenure with the Wheat Kings, and had to be aware of it in minor hockey.

“All the kids have different personalities and you have to manage all of them individually and then collectively as a team,” Rome said. “For me personally, I’ve been immersed in that change over the last 12 years, albeit at a lower level, so I can bring some of that to this job as well. Obviously my coaching style will have changed from 10 years ago, just being 10 years older and coaching at lower levels. Hopefully I can connect with each of the kids on our roster.”

Rome’s job handling the defence won’t be easy next season. While he has Nigel Boehm, Cameron Allard and overager Dylan Ronald returning and potentially Gio Pantelas too, 19-year-old Swedish newcomer Ilari Kapanen will likely be joined by rookies Cruz Jim, Easten Turko and Ethan Young.

That’s a young group for Rome, who may also end up responsible for the penalty kill.

“There is a big learning curve for those kids coming up from U18,” Murray said. “It’s going to take some patience. Sometimes kids jump right into it and other times it takes a little time. We have to work these guys — that’s our job — and just keep pounding in the details and habits that we want to see.”

Murray said Rome will excel in spending extra time with guys after practice and teaching them the finer details that will allow them to blossom.

After years in the game, Rome learned to appreciate coaches who were clear on their expectations with him, although he understands you simply can’t use the brutal honesty that coaches delivered decades ago. Still, there is always room for an honest conversation, which is especially true about what the staff expects from players.

“You take something from all of those coaches, good and bad,” Rome said. “You try to learn from some of those lessons you got. The biggest thing for me is I really had a great respect for coaches who were honest with me at whatever point in my career I was in, whether it was good or bad.

“It was always nice to know where you stood. Sometimes it was tough but you could look in the mirror to reflect and try to do things to get better.”

ICINGS: Jake Stuart, 19, has signed to play with the Lethbridge Hurricanes. The former Wheat Kings prospect, whose brother Logan is also joining the club, was part of a three-way deal that also included Swift Current on May 21 that saw Brandon land local product Josh McGregor … The son of former NHL goalie Chris Osgood has signed with the Medicine Hat Tigers. Max, 15, is a forward … The Moncton Wildcats and Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League have been selected as finalists for the right to host the 2028 Memorial Cup. The final decision will be made in October.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com