Russell resigns

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The Conception Bay North Slateworks Stars of the Kent St. John’s Junior Hockey League are in the market for a new coach following Eddie Russell’s resignation last week.

Russell had coached the squad for the past three seasons and was named coach of the year last season after guiding the Stars to first place in the woeful Avalon Division by winning eight of their last 10 games.

Russell is the new principal at Carbonear Collegiate this year, and he still has two young children at home. With two league games every weekend, the time commitment was become quite taxing.

On top of that, word from Bay Roberts is Russell grew tired of trying to get an honest effort out of his charges. The squad is 5-12 thus far, largely due to the fact they’ve been outscored by a 2-1 ratio (102-52). Apparently guys have been skipping practice, missing games and simply not trying hard enough to win.

It’s too bad, because Russell is a great coach with a lot of experience working with junior aged players, not to mention he’s a first class guy. Assistant coach Bruce Dawe has also stepped aside, though he'll remain with the club in a different capacity. But it won't be behind the bench.

Manager Brian Hurley has been forced to step in to run things until a replacement can be found.When that might be is anyone’s guess. But at this point, the Stars will need a monumental effort to turn their season around before the playoffs.