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The Golden Rockets have announced the hiring of Jeremy Blumes as the team’s new head coach and general manager.
Blumes will begin work immediately building the team roster ahead of the 2018/19 Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL) season.
“Jeremy’s coaching record speaks for itself, bringing to Golden 20 years of experience in coaching, skill development, team building, and recruiting. Along with a bachelor of education degree from St. Mary’s University, serving as a long time scout with the Alberni Valley Bulldogs of the [British Columbia Hockey League], and performing the duties of owner and operator of the Calgary summer hockey league, the board and I believe we have found the perfect candidate for the Rockets next coach and GM,” said Rockets president Dan Ringeheim. “The future looks very bright for the game of hockey in Golden.”
Blumes joins the Rockets from Calgary, where he most recently led the Northwest Calgary Athletic Association Midget AAA Flames of the Alberta Midget Hockey League during the 2016/17 campaign.
He has also served as an assistant coach and head scout with the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Calgary Mustangs and head coach with the Heritage Junior Hockey League’s Strathmore Wheatland Kings.
In 2014, Blumes was recognized as coach of the year by Hockey Calgary, and in 2013 he was named the Calgary Royals Athletic Association’s coach of the year.
From 2010 to 2014, Blumes led the Calgary Royals Midget AA Blue team to a combined record of 76-15-14 along with a provincial championship in their final season.
“I’m very excited for this tremendous opportunity in Golden, and I look forward to beginning the process of building the Rockets into a winning program in the KIJHL,” Blumes said. “Our goal is to be a team that is hard to play against each and every night, and we’ll be looking for young men who play the game the right way; with pace and purpose. There is a long list of players whom I have had the privilege of coaching, and being a part of a player’s development is what I consider a coach’s greatest reward. We plan on making the Rockets organization one that is synonymous with advancement to higher levels.”
The 20-year coaching veteran expects that a strong offseason recruiting push will add to the team’s existing roster and result in a competitive team for the 2018 season, bringing up the level of hockey in Golden.
“Hockey is the ultimate team sport,” he said. “You look at a team like the Golden Knights and they brought in players who play fast and follow the coach’s game plan to the letter and they were extremely successful as a result. We plan on emulating that blueprint.”
The Rockets are currently finalizing a spring prospects camp, and will announce the details in the near future.
