The Vancouver Giants parted ways “on really good terms” with head coach Claude Noel, the WHL franchise announced Wednesday. “The search for a new bench boss will begin immediately.”
Noel was brought in before Christmas to turn around a slumping team, but the Giants ended the 2014-15 season in the basement of the Western Conference. If a new coach is hired by the end of next month, it will be the junior hockey club’s fourth coach in a year -- fifth if you count an interm coach between official hires.
At the end of April last year, veteran coach Don Hay was let out of his contract and returned to the Kamloops Blazers after a 10-year tenure in Vancouver. He was followed by Troy Ward, a hiring that smacked of head office compromise, who coached the Giants for 25 games before he was released during a road-trip at the start of the season. Assistant coach Matt Erhart took the helm as an interim bench boss, making him No. 4 in a string of five.
In the opinion of Province reporter Steve Ewen, who covers the Giants' season game-in, game-out, the G-Men made a mistake with Ward. "Ward was the wrong guy for the Giants because he was no-one's guy," wrote Ewen on March 22.
Noel began his stint in Vancouver on Nov. 30.
At the time, the former Winnipeg Jets head coach did not commit to more than a year in Vancouver but said he didn’t rule it out, either. He joined the team mid-season and his record with the Giants was 17-23-2-2.
“We’d like to thank Claude for his time with our club,” said Giants owner Ron Toigo. “Claude would like to pursue pro opportunities, and we need to move forward. We really appreciate him stepping into this role mid-season — we’re ending our time together on really good terms and we wish him all the best in the future.”
On Wednesday in the WHL draft lottery held in Calgary, the Giants will pick third overall in the May 7 bantam draft. It is the second time since 2001 that the Giants will pick third. The G-Men have held a top five pick on three other occasions, taking Gilbert Brule at first overall in 2002, Daniel Bertram at second overall in 2002 and Tyler Benson at first overall in 2013.
