Grant Williams stepped in as interim head coach of the Osoyoos Coyotes in November. (Jen Jensen Photography)
By Dale Boyd
Osoyoos Times
Hockey has been a part of Grant Williams’ life for as long as he can remember.
Lacing up his skates in junior hockey and the Western Hockey League, coaching senior hockey and midget teams to success over the last 40 or so years, he was ready to take a seat in the stands and enjoy the game from afar.
When Williams moved to Oliver with his wife, purchasing Medici’s Gelateria and easing into retirement, getting back behind the bench was not top of mind.
“Well … I’m old,” Williams laughed. “But I’ve been around the game most of my life. I thought I had left the game, other than as a spectator, 10 years ago.”
Now interim head coach of the Osoyoos Coyotes, and finding some success with the struggling squad who sit at the bottom of the division at 3-19-1, Williams went from advisor and mentor for the Coyotes coaching staff to leading the squad.
He was originally tapped by the parents of a Coyotes player to help out now former head coach Dean Maynard — who parted ways along with other coaching staff in November leaving a major hole to be filled for the organization.
“That’s how I got involved was just to be there sort of as a sounding board for Dean and the assistant coaches and try and help them over a bit of a rough patch there,” Williams said.
It has been a season of heartbreak on the ice for the Coyotes, with eight of their losses within one goal.
Read more: Coyotes end losing streak with three-point weekend
The Coyotes were able to end a nearly two-month losing streak early in November before Maynard parted ways with the club. Like any good coach, Williams gives credit to his players for winning two of their last three outings.
“The games that I had seen, in spite of their record, they worked hard. So that speaks highly of their character. I can’t believe a team can play 16 or 18 games and nine or so have been one-goal (losses) and they were able to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory every time,” Williams said. “But the kids, I think, just needed to get a little bit of confidence because the work ethic was there. So just a change of circumstances is all they needed, I guess. They’ve taken the bull by the horns and have changed the result.”
Coyotes owner Randy Bedard reached out to Williams on a wing and a prayer after the staffing shake-up. Williams is bringing a different style of coaching to the Coyotes, and the players are responding, he said.
“You’re going to get a group of players sometimes who may be, it doesn’t matter what level, are maybe going to respond a little bit better to one style or another. I think this group of players, I mean, it’s noticeable that they’re responding a little bit better to a different style of coaching,” Bedard said. “You respect everybody for how they approach the game. Dean’s coaching was, I think probably a little more aggressive and Grant is a little more passive. He’s very calm. He’s very quiet where Dean is high-energy and very passionate.”
Read more: New coach for Osoyoos Coyotes
Bedard said the Coyotes are roughly only halfway through their season, and while it would be a tall order to come back and snag a playoff berth, they are “not waving the white flag yet.”
“We had a couple of blowout games. You’re going to get those every year, but there are a lot of one-goal games, where we’re in it, or we let it slip away. But we had a tendency to always play catch-up. We were never scoring first. And we were catching up the entire game. It took us I don’t know how many games before we had a two-nothing lead,” Bedard said.
Now, Bedard said, he has seen a shift in momentum. It is impossible to tell what has sparked the recent success, a change in coaching or a couple good bounces, but Bedard said he has noticed a momentum shift from the players.
“We’re not playing from behind. I think that’s helping the confidence of the players as well,” Bedard said.
The Coyotes took another one-goal loss, losing 4-3 to the Princeton Posse at home Wednesday. They face off against the North Okanagan Knights on Dec. 6 and play the Kamloops Storm at home on Dec. 7 with the annual Coyotes Christmas Toy Toss. Bring new or gently-used stuffed toy to toss on the ice when the Coyotes score their first goal.
