McCrimmon’s impact felt across WHL

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This article was published 10/09/2020 (2086 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Kelly McCrimmon may no longer have an active role with the Brandon Wheat Kings and the Western Hockey League, but his three-decade tenure won’t soon be forgotten.

The 59-year-old product of Plenty, Sask., played in the league in the 1970s and returned in the 1980s with the Wheat Kings in a career that saw him serve as an assistant coach, general manager, head coach and eventually the team owner. In that time, he also became an influential voice at the highest levels of the league. 

McCrimmon, who sold the team to the J&G Group of Companies in a deal that was announced on Tuesday, made his first great trade that saw him send goaltender Trevor Kidd to the Spokane Chiefs on Jan. 21, 1991 for a package that included sniper Bobby House and team legend Marty Murray.

“He’s a guy that is respected at every level of hockey,” Murray said. “I think playing for him in my first year in Brandon and him being the general manager for the rest of my career, he’s a guy who you have the utmost respect for. He was fair, but there were expectations. He did an unbelievable job of planting a solid work ethic, a solid foundation in the hockey club from day one.”

Brandon Mayor Rick Chrest has worked with McCrimmon, who joined the Vegas Golden Knights in 2016 after helping the Wheat Kings win a WHL championship and now serves as the NHL club’s general manager, in many capacities over the past three decades.

Chrest was GM of the Keystone Centre in 1989 when the facility operated the Wheat Kings essentially as one of its departments. In essence, for a short period, McCrimmon reported to him, “As much as anybody can be Kelly’s boss,” Chrest added with a chuckle.

The mayor remembers the team not getting results after McCrimmon took over as GM, but accepting McCrimmon’s assertion that it would take time to build. 

Chrest was then heavily involved as Bob Cornell took over the Wheat Kings from community ownership. McCrimmon’s presence was a key part of Cornell’s willingness to take the team on, Chrest said, giving the team a chance to thrive locally instead of moving.

McCrimmon then built on that stability after buying one-third of the team in 1992 and the rest in 2001.

“He has really elevated the level of the organization through and through,” Chrest said. “He’s made a very professional high standard. He built the organization to the same standards that he carries for himself and all the people who work for him, and that was passed on to the players as well. That was certainly his legacy, turning into a first-class professional organization. That will be a legacy that lives on for a long time and be a benefit to the new owners.”

Kelowna Rockets owner and general manager Bruce Hamilton came into team ownership about the same time as McCrimmon and Tim Speltz of the Spokane Chiefs, who has since gone on to serve as director of scouting for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The young group of newcomers, which later included Russ Farwell of the Seattle Thunderbirds and Brent Sutter of the Red Deer Rebels, was mentored by league president Ed Chynoweth. They essentially towed the line in the early days, letting the more experienced owners set the league’s course.

But as they gained experience, things changed, and McCrimmon was one of the owners leading the way.

“He was a thinker and an innovative guy,” Hamilton said. “… I have a ton of respect for him for how hard he worked to make that franchise work there. The other thing is, he got players to come there. There are other centres that are looked upon as almost outliers that have a bigger challenge, but he did a great job of recruiting, and he always did it with a smaller staff than a lot of people had. His fingerprints were on everything.”

Tri-City Americans owner and general manager Bob Tory said McCrimmon’s work ethic and passion for the team and the city set him apart. He noted McCrimmon looked after the Wheat Kings first, but at the board level was a strong proponent of the WHL.

“At the general managers’ level, it was Wheat Kings first and he was building a hockey team and had a tremendous competitive desire to win and built some really good teams,” Tory said. “Even on their down cycles, they were very competitive. But at the board level, it was a different story. Kelly was league first. He cared about the grassroots, he cared about the small-market teams. You look back to the Prince Alberts and his time as a player, and he was very insightful. 

“I spent a lot of time talking to Kelly over the years because when we purchased the Tri-City franchise, our market was very similar to Brandon and the size of our business operation was very similar to Brandon. The only difference was that they were in a Canadian market, which was a huge advantage. I have so much respect for his ability to navigate the business of junior hockey.”

Tory noted he even returned to school to earn his MBA, and that paid off for the WHL.

“His insight into what was right and wrong and where the league was going, we’re going miss that,” Tory said. “He was a very powerful voice on the board of governors but a voice that was based on logic and a lot of thought and what was best for the league at all times.”

Before GM meetings, Hamilton and Speltz sometimes drove out to pick up McCrimmon on the road when the Wheat Kings were in Alberta, and the trio would drive back to Calgary together. The three would talk about hockey, but also about things away from the game.

At league meetings, they always made point of enjoying a meal together.

“We had many times together that were real enjoyable,” Hamilton said. “Losing Tim was a real kick, and losing Kelly, there aren’t a lot of guys I came in with or spent a lot of time with. It’s different. We’re all kind of running our own businesses now, most of these teams are corporate. I’m not saying they’re not real good people that are representing them, but it’s just not the same as it used to be. The old line is that change occurs, and you have to far into it and land somewhere, but it’s going to be a challenge.”

Wheat Kings head coach Dave Lowry joked that when he was with the Calgary Hitmen, he looked forward to the epic battles McCrimmon waged with WHL vice-president hockey Richard Doerksen during scheduling sessions. Lowry said McCrimmon made a great impact on the entire WHL as he led the Wheat Kings.

“He’s pushed the league in the direction of growth,” Lowry said. “You look at franchise values and you look at player development and you look at the evolution of the Western Hockey League, and I think his fingerprints are all over it, not only from an owner’s standpoint. He came in with the right mindset, that was to develop individuals and make them better people.”

Lowry and McCrimmon worked together at the 2015-16 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, with Lowry acting as head coach and McCrimmon an assistant for the Canadian team. Lowry was impressed with McCrimmon’s analytical mind.

“He has very good recognition of what’s going to be successful,” Lowry said. “… You can tell it’s not an emotional decision, all of his decisions have been very well thought out. There aren’t fly-off-the-cuff, reactionary decisions.”

Colorado Avalanche forward Matt Calvert starred with the Wheat Kings for three seasons from 2007 to 2010. Calvert admits he found McCrimmon very intimidating early on, but that quickly changed when he got to know him. 

The first time they had a good conversation was when Calvert met him one-on-one as the 18-year-old weighed his college hockey options against potentially playing major junior.

“As soon as I stepped in the door, he was great to me,” Calvert said. “Obviously he wanted me as a player, but we had such a good conversation, and honestly we’ve been pretty good friends ever since.”

Calvert lived at home when he played with the Wheat Kings, but many of his teammates were living a long way from their parents and support networks. The Brandonite noticed how McCrimmon was successfully able to balance being a disciplinarian with providing a comforting presence.

“When you hold as many roles as he did, he was essentially a second dad to a lot of guys in that room,” Calvert said. “Some might have needed the help more than others. I was fortunate enough to be at home with my parents, but a lot of these kids at 16 or 17 years old are living with a billet family and everything is new to them. They’re trying to juggle hockey, travel, school, girls, you name it. It’s not an easy gig, and to have a guy like that to talk to, not even about hockey but just about their personal life it was huge. As much as he was old school, he was very approachable too if you had anything to deal with. I think that was one of his biggest strengths as a coach and a leader in that room.”

Murray, who played 15 years earlier from 1991 to 1995 and now coaches in the USHL, found the same thing.

“He would do anything for you, and still to this day,” Murray said. “If I reached out to him, he would pick up the phone. That’s who he is. You try to pinpoint the success of the Wheat Kings over the past 25 or 30 years and it’s just the culture that Kelly created. Part of it os having that human element where there was a way to do things and a way not to. That translated not only to us becoming better hockey players, but also better human beings as well ready to get out in the real world.”

While McCrimmon’s intelligence is often discussed, Calvert said it was his willingness to keep learning that set him apart. When Calvert became a full-time NHL player at age 23 or 24 with his first one-way deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets, he remembers having his annual summer sit-down with McCrimmon to talk hockey.

“The one question he would ask me every year is ‘Tell me about Columbus Blue Jacket hockey,’” Calvert said. “I would go over our system and what the coaches were saying and what the GM was saying, what we were doing differently every year and he would sit there and write notes about everything I said. His only answer would be ‘Is that right?’ and then he would start writing again. One thing with Kelly is that he never stops learning and I think that goes to show why he was where he is today and why he was so successful when he got to the NHL level. 

“… I’m real happy for him for the success he’s having at the NHL level now, and to me that’s the reason. He’s not a stubborn guy when it comes to that. He’s willing to learn from anyone, even if it is a 24-year-old kid. To me, that’s his biggest asset.”

Murray chuckled as he talked about how it seemed like McCrimmon almost never lost a trade. But that was just a tiny part of what the hockey executive successful.

Murray said McCrimmon quickly taught him to treat hockey like a job, a lesson he’s never forgotten.

“When you look back on your career, you certainly take a lot from everybody,” Murray said. “I always admired the way that Kelly approached every day as a true professional, and obviously to get where he’s at now, that’s been one of the biggest assets he’s had, is bringing that professionalism every day. For me building a hockey team here, it’s based off a strong compete level and work ethic, which are two of the things that Kelly looked for in hockey players as well.”

Tory noted Farwell is involved with the T-Birds but no longer controls his club, and Speltz and McCrimmon have moved on. In an era when family-owned teams have given ways to more corporate ownership, he hopes the spirit of those owners live on.

“These guys were lifetime WHL people, and there are very few of those left,” Tory said. “It’s a hole. The league is changing and the league is different but hopefully we can retain some of the wisdom that these type of guys passed on. They made the league what it is today. We’re only as strong as all 22 teams. We can battle on the ice, but in the board room we have to be partners.”

Calvert was born in 1989, so McCrimmon has been part of the club for his entire life. He said the hockey executive’s impact won’t soon be forgotten by the club.

“I think the biggest legacy he’ll leave is the culture he built,” Calvert said. “For all the alumni, whether you’re a Brandon boy or you’re Brayden Schenn from Saskatoon or Ryan Craig from Abbotsford, B.C., you’re proud to be a Brandon Wheat King and you carry that along as you go throughout pro hockey or whatever you do and whatever your career might be. You feel like you’re part of something, and even when you’re out you feel like you’re part of something. To me, that’s what junior hockey is. If you want to be successful, you need to have that culture and you need to have the alumni buying in and always wanting to support you, and that’s something that he created because he made it such a family-like atmosphere … To me, that’s his legacy. He built a strong, winning culture.” 

 

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