Brolund ready for new role

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This article was published 15/05/2019 (2364 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Curtis Brolund has been dedicated to the Brandon AAA Under-18 Wheat Kings for quite some time.

He spent two seasons playing on the team, formerly known as the Midget AAA Wheat Kings, before going on to play junior A hockey. He returned to Brandon after calling it a career and spend the last eight seasons on the bench as an assistant coach for the Wheat Kings.

Now, he’s taking the next step in his career as he has been named the team’s head coach for the 2019-20 season.

“It means a lot,” Brolund said of taking over the position. “I put a lot of time into the program. I care about the program and what it represents and means to the community and the kids that come through it. I’m very excited to be a part of it and in a bigger role now.”

Brolund caught the coaching bug early. After finishing his playing days with the OCN Blizzard in 2011, he joined the Manitoba Junior Hockey League team as an assistant coach the following season. He returned home after one season and was picked up by Ken Schneider to be one of his assistants with the Wheaties. He stayed on through the rest of Schneider’s tenure and then the four years after when Tyson Ramsey ran the team.

Brolund decided to take a step back after that and guided a peewee AA squad with Jeff Hoad last season until the Wheat Kings decided to make a mid-season coaching change and brought back Schneider. Brolund rejoined the team at that point and helped Brandon win its first league championship in 12 years.

Last year, he didn’t feel like he was ready to step up to head coach when Ramsey announced he wouldn’t return, but Brolund felt more confident this time around and applied for the position.

“I think it was definitely a confidence thing,” said Brolund, who got married last summer. “I helped out a younger age group a little bit early on last winter. I went down there and learned a different way of minor hockey and the way you have to interact with people from a more leadership position than in years prior and it gave me a lot more confidence. When I came back, I felt like I was more than ready for the next challenge.”

The 29-year-old Brandonite learned a lot from his time assisting Schneider and Ramsey. The biggest lesson was that being a coach isn’t just about creating systems, drawing up plays and what happens on the ice. It’s not even necessarily about the game, but more so developing good people and hockey players.

That has been a mantra of the Wheat Kings programs for quite some time and is something Brolund plans to continue.

He also wants to see the team continue to have success on the ice, although there will be some added pressure next season. Not only is Brandon the defending champion, but the Wheat Kings had an older roster last season, so Brolund expects a younger team in the fall.

“I kind of know what goes on after a team like that,” Brolund said. “We had an older team last year so you kind of know you’re going to get a younger team. It’s not a very big league, but it’s big enough and you always expect to win.

“Every year you want to win and sometimes that’s not the case, but you have to make sure you play the games the right way and develop kids along the way. We want to win games the right way, you don’t want to limp your way through and be an OK team. I think the program has a lot of integrity that way where they always try to play the game the right way and I want to continue that on.”

Brolund already has a head start on rounding out his staff. He had Travis Mealy locked in as an assistant coach and his father, Mike, secured as the team’s manager before he applied. Mike Brolund served as the team’s manager when Schneider and Ramsey coached the squad.

Brolund is still looking for another assistant coach and trainer and will have all the positions filled before tryouts begin in the fall.

He knows he has a lot of work ahead of him, but he’s ready for the challenge.

“I’m excited for the opportunity and the challenge ahead,” he said. “I don’t know what kind of team we’ll have next year, but you always have lots of turnover and you alway are unsure, but you get there and work with the guys that you have and hope to have a strong year.”

» cjaster@brandonsun.com

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