Rich Preston's first visit to the Brandt Centre was full of nostalgia.
The Regina native made his "home" debut on Saturday as the head coach/GM of the Lethbridge Hurricanes, who hired the former NHL assistant on June 30. Preston's last WHL coaching gig was with his home-town Regina Pats in the mid-'90s, when the building was then known as the Agridome.
"It has been 12 years," Preston, 57, marvelled Saturday after his team's 4-1 loss to the host Pats. "It would be different if it was two or three years after but it has been so long. I love what they've done to the place. The changes to the building have been great and it's great they're getting the world juniors. It's always fun to come home, but it would have been a lot more fun if we had got a win."
Preston enjoyed a short but memorable run with the Pats. He took over a team that had won just 26 games in 1994-95 and guided the club to its first winning record (37-33-2) in five years, making it to the second round of the playoffs. The next season, Regina went 42-27-3 under Preston, who was then hired away by the Calgary Flames.
Preston spent three seasons in Calgary, followed by three in San Jose, then rejoined the Flames for five more. He lost his job this spring when the NHL club purged Mike Keenan's coaching staff and hired Brent Sutter. That ended Preston's long association with Flames GM Darryl Sutter, a former teammate with the Chicago Blackhawks. When Sutter became Chicago's head coach, he hired Preston as an assistant and would later do the same in San Jose and Calgary.
Shortly after parting with the Flames in the off-season, Preston agreed to join the Hurricanes in the dual role of head coach/GM. It was his first taste of the junior ranks since he left the Pats in 1997.
"It's fun to be back," Preston said after Saturday's game. "I really enjoyed coaching junior, especially in my hometown. I had great memories here. When I talked about the Lethbridge situation, the more I thought about it, the challenge to do both jobs, it really intrigued me."
The Hurricanes had an opening after they fired head coach Michael Dyck and general manager Roy Stasiuk early in the off-season. Although Preston doesn't have management experience and has been away from the junior game for an extended period, he said the transition to the dual role has been fairly smooth.
"I got there in the first part of the summer," he noted. "I had all summer to get up to speed on the GM duties and all the regulations in the league. I had some time to get that accomplished. But, I'll tell ya, I was looking forward to coaching when training camp came along, getting out of the office and getting on the ice. I still enjoy coaching but it's fun to do both."
Preston had a 13-year pro playing career after graduating from the University of Denver in 1974. He suited up for the Houston Aeros and Winnipeg Jets of the old World Hockey Association (WHA) before joining Chicago, followed by the New Jersey Devils. Preston retired after one final season with the Blackhawks in 1986-87, then rejoined the NHL club as an assistant coach in 1991, spending four seasons on Chicago's staff before he was hired by the Pats.
Although a lot has changed since his two seasons in Regina, one thing hasn't. He has maintained a friendship with Pats GM Brent Parker, who hired Preston back in 1995 after Russ Parker purchased the team.
"He was a rookie GM, I was a rookie coach, his dad was a rookie owner," Preston recalled. "We came together and had a
couple good years together. It's fond memories."
http://www.leaderpost.com/sports/Preston+memories+Regina+sweet/2130846/story.html#
