Where does one begin to provide information on the devastating saga that has shaken the Cold Lake Ice Organization over the last 20-30 days? In mid-October the Board of Directors for the Cold Lake Ice was in search of new board members and volunteers; at this time the invitation was open to the public to join the organization for the remainder of the season. The VP of Hockey Operations at the time, Cory Broadhead, reached out to Paul Desjardins to see if he would be interested in coaching the team, should there be a change in coaching staff. On October 21st a board meeting was held; during that meeting 4 new board members were voted in, along with a new president. In attendance that night was Bob Lamoureux, former assistant coach under Paul Desjardins, Philip Bernier, as well Paul Desjardins wife. Between the meeting that took place on October 21st, and October 28th- the night Langridge was relieved of his duties- some personal agendas had taken place behind the scenes. Aside from Cory Broadhead, who came forward and admitted that he was the one who reached out to Paul no one else has come forward. The night of Langridges’ firing the new president accompanied by the VP of Hockey Operations (Broadhead) showed up to the arena during one of the Ice’s regularly scheduled practices and informed Langridge of the boards’ decision to relieve him of his duties. Also in attendance was Bob Lamoureux; he was let into the dressing room to talk to the players. He addressed them for 10-15 minutes saying he was a new coach and touched on topics such as nutrition, dry land conditioning, his military background and the leadership skills he was prepared to bring to the team. What is still unclear about this entire process is what was discussed during the meeting on the 28th of October and what was discussed regarding Langridge’s “coaching”. There was a 50 minute closed meeting regarding the “coaching” issues; the motion was put forward to fire Langridge as was passed. The board has no documentation, no facts, and nothing on paper as to what they discussed that led to their decision to fire Neil Langridge without so much as consulting him or giving him the opportunity to explain any assumptions they did have regarding the “coaching”. From October 29th, up until now November 12th the players have been devastated by what has happened. On October 29th, the players were headed to Onion Lake for a game under their “new coaching staff” Paul Desjardins and Bob Lamoureux. After seeing what had happened to Langridge on Tuesday night, the assistant coaches had decided they were walking away from the team as well. Based on the emotional whirlwind they were subjected to, some of the players stated that they refused to play for the new coaches, and that there would be no players on the bus. The players reached out to some board members and informed them that they would only play if the assistant coaches were there that night to coach. So from that point some board members decided to do a couple of things. First they told Bob Lamoureux that he was not going to be a part of the organization; secondly they approached the assistant coaches and asked them to coach the game Wednesday. The assistant coaches agreed that they would coach the game on Wednesday, but only because it was 1 day of notice and they didn’t want to let their players down. The following night, the assistant coaches were asked to meet with the new president. She informed them that Paul Desjardins and Bob Lamoureux would not be taking over in any way. So the assistant coaches agreed to coach together for the short interim until the dust had settled and they could try and get some answers as to what had happened with Langridge. They wanted to make sure they got to the bottom of what had happened, wanted some answers from the board members, and most importantly they wanted to be there for the players so they could continue to play the game that they loved. They knew that if they walked away there was no one else who could get answers as to what was going on; if they were going to be put into this situation they were going to try and do right by their head coach, Neil Langridge, and their players. On Tuesday November 4th, another board meeting was scheduled because there were 5 existing board members who had no idea what was going on and were demanding some answers for the back-door deal that had taken place. The board invited the assistant coaches to the meeting, at the assistant coaches’ request. Assistant coach Corey Wandler had prepared something to say to the board on behalf of him and Brad Paice that went as follows: “We wanted to address the room about the events of the past week or so. As we requested, and were given permission to speak to you guys, we would kindly ask you let us finish speaking before we get into any type of discussion, or before you comment on any of what we say. Thank you in advance. Firstly, we would like to start off by saying how much we appreciate being able to be a part of the coaching staff. We have respected, and valued each moment that we have been given behind the bench. That being said, Neil was the one that asked us to come on board with the coaching staff. If it hadn’t been for Neil, both me and Paice wouldn’t be here right now. The way that this situation was handled was wrong, to put it mildly. We don’t care who started it, who finished it, who said what to who… What is important is that each and every person involved needs to know that Brad and I are fundamentally NOT okay with how this entire “firing process” went down. Further to that point, we have been placed in a position that is a lose lose for us. We either let down 23 guys, or we let down our friend and lifelong relationships. The fact that you guys thought 4 or 5 or 6 players threatened to walk off and quit the team is a joke and completely false and what’s worse is that probably one player was going to probably walk if he had enough guts. And frankly Brad and I are wondering what is the point of staying associated with an organization that operates like this. We would like to make it VERY CLEAR, that going forward we are not being set up to take the fall for all of the political and unnecessary actions that have taken place. As everyone clearly knows the Cold Lake Sun will obviously print anything and everything. We have no problem giving our version of how these events went down JUST like everybody else did. The board and anyone affiliated with the changes that took place in relieving Neil of his duties, should have had to come up with a solution. Instead you guys have conveniently left that up to Brad and me to deal with. One minute we’re fired, one minute the team is threatening to quit if we don’t stay. If you guys had even considered for one minute the repercussions of your actions then we could have avoided all of this. Not to mention the public scrutiny that the entire team is undergoing right now. We would like to know since everyone was so on board with firing Neil, why has there not been ONE official release from any of the board members as to why that has happened? Why has Bob Lameroux been speaking to the Cold Lake sun, and our players but NOT ONE BOARD member could step up and release a comment to do some damage control and get ahead of this? And since the new passing of the bylaw that coaches are not allowed to sit on the board (which we have no problem with); then the board needs to be proactively commenting on their decisions and standing behind it. This is not a high school. This is not the NHL. And it certainly isn’t public office. This type of lying, underhandedness, and unaccountability from members cannot continue. Someone needs to step up and make the situation right. If that means Brad and I are not a part of the staff then so be it, but SOMEONE needs to release some type of public statement explaining what the hell is going on. At the end of the day, brad and I are here to be a part of the team, a part of the game we love and the players we love coaching. We have dedicated our time 8 months of the year, for the last 3 years and whatever of this year up to this point, to a hockey organization that has been like home to us. We understand that there are going to be parents and players that don’t like our style. But you show me a team in the entire world that doesn’t have 1-2 players that don’t gel with their coaches. We cannot make BIG TIME EXECUTIVE BOARD decisions based solely on 1 or 2 kids. Not even that, the RUMOR of it. These needs to be signed statements, there needs to be documentation, or proof. You don’t go firing your coach on a whim. It just can’t happen. So we want to know, what is the personal agenda behind this? What aren’t we seeing? Because there is no way in this whole picture that makes this right, or okay. And the lack of willingness for anyone to shed some light on the situation certainly doesn’t help matters for us, OR ANYONE. As for Neil and his systems, and /or our structure of play since so many of you I hear have an issue with. Neil does his best to work with the kids that we have, you cannot fire a guy based on those issues alone., I don’t understand how on a 10-2 record, and on route to the 5th straight championship you can possibly contest Neil’s, and therefore Brad and I’s coaching style. You don’t fire a head coach with that type of record. And everyone knows it, as you can clearly tell by the unreal amount of backlash you have received because of it. I guess our biggest concern and point at this point in time is, why would we continue to be affiliated with this team? You guys clearly have your own agenda, and have clearly established that you have no problem treating 10 years of loyalty like nothing. Well Brad and I have half that, so if history stands as any indication of the future we’re not holding our breath on being treated with any more respect that what you have just shown Neil. Neither of us needs to remain coaching, neither of us needs to be subjected to the complete and utter disgusting bullshit that has happened in the past week. So what is the plan here? And maybe, for once, we could try a little bit of honesty. Because if we get the same run around we have been getting, we can tell you right now, the easiest decision we will make all week is turning around and walking out the door and letting you deal with the mess you’ve made yourselves, as we should have done last Tuesday”. On that night, only 1 of the new board members was in attendance and he left after the statement from the assistant coaches due to a panic attack. After the assistant coaches addressed the board, some answers slowly started to surface. VP of Hockey, Cory Broadhead, as mentioned above admitted that he approached Paul Desjardins behind the back of everyone else and undercut Langridge. Broadhead however, refused to give up any other names of individuals that may have been involved. After the discussion generated from that meeting, the board reached out to Langridge and asked if he would be willing to meet with them to discuss the possibility of giving him his job back. Langridge accepted this invitation to discuss and the meeting was scheduled for Monday November 10th. On Monday, Langridge got to face the board that fired him for the first time since the initial firing. However once the meeting got underway, the board appeared to be more concerned about business topics ie) the teams budget- then they were about coaching topics (their stated reason for firing him). As the meeting progressed it was clear the board wanted some more answers from Langridge about specific events. For example, they had approved his coaching budget of “x” amount of dollars. After going through the necessary steps of approval, Langridge had purchased the necessary equipment he needed for the season. Upon receiving the invoice, the board did not have the funds to pay for the total amount of the invoice. They then accused Langridge of overspending. However because Langridge followed the proper protocols the evidence was in his favor- he approached the board, was approved for funds, and spent the funds on the allotted equipment. When he provided them with this evidence they moved along to another topic. The other “issue” of 6 players allegedly walking off the team if he remained as head coach. Throughout the course of the meeting there were several other issues discussed, all largely based on hearsay. No evidence, no documentation, no tangible or reasonable proof. After an hour and half of conversation Langridge left the meeting to return home. After much discussion the board had to vote on bringing him back; Out of nine eligible voting members the vote did not pass which means Langridge was not going to be re-hired. The president also informed the board that they would be putting out an ad for coaches immediately. After Langridge passed along the news to his assistant coaches, who had done everything they could at this point to get him back, they immediately resigned. They will not be a part of the coaching staff moving forward. Additionally the players were requested to meet with the board at the rink on Tuesday night with a member of the board Shawn Metchewais and the president’s husband. They addressed the players for over an hour and a half. The players commented on the meeting saying it was useless; they still had no answers just like everyone else. They feel they are being lied to; Metchewais informed the players Langridge broke 4 clauses in his contract and that is why they fired him; as of present, Langridge has still not been informed of these (four Clause infractions.) As it sits tonight; the players feel they have no answers. They are going to meet with the board on Thursday, and head off to Frog Lake tonight to be coached by the trainers! With that being said we would like to thank Neil Langridge for taking this organization on his back to bring in a high caliber hockey program. 10 years of service both shared as a player as well coach and general manager. He has changed the culture of this organization putting together 3 consecutive championships as a head coach and was on the staff helping recruit high end players and serving as a coach during the first championship season. He has helped many players over the years jump into the JR A and college ranks. Langridge will leave 10 years of dedication, and hours of work with a coaching record of 135-22-5. A record no other junior coach in the province has come close to matching. On behalf of the current and past players and staff, we want to thank Neil Langridge for going above and beyond to build this franchise from the ground up during his 5 year tenure with the organization as a coach and gm.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 03:59:42 +0000