Hockey Nomad Molleken Settles Down

By Les Lazaruk

Lorne Molleken chuckled when he was asked if he knew how many teams he has played and coached for in his hockey career. “Not really,” said the Saskatoon Blades’ general manager and head coach. “It’s been quite a journey and it’s something I’ll cherish forever!” The short answer is 17 teams between major junior and the professional ranks, eight as a player and nine as a coach, for the 54-year-old Regina-born product. His travels took Molleken from as small a hockey market as Swift Current all the way to Chicago! There were second stints as a goaltender in such places as Springfield, Massachusetts, Indianapolis and Toledo, Ohio. However, a second stint behind the bench in Saskatoon is proving to be the longest one of all. Lorne Molleken first came to Saskatoon as head coach of the Blades in 1991. He led the franchise to four consecutive, winning seasons recording 170 victories in total. He also guided the Blades to a pair of Game 7 losses to Kamloops in the Western Hockey League final in 1992 and ‘94. That stretch was the springboard into pro coaching in 1995. Molleken led the Edmonton Oilers’ American Hockey League affiliates in Cape Breton and Hamilton for a total of three seasons before graduating to the NHL in 1998 as an assistant coach in Chicago to fellow Regina-native Dirk Graham. When Graham was fired 59 games into the 1999-2000 campaign, Molleken became bench boss of the storied Blackhawks’ franchise. That lasted 47 games, over parts of two seasons before he was “promoted” to a senior advisor role.

He came home to Regina to coach the WHL Pats as they hosted the Memorial Cup in 2001, but returned to the NHL as an assistant coach for one season each with the San Jose Sharks and Pittsburgh Penguins. It was at the end of the 2003-04 season that Molleken decided it was time to make another move.

“My last (NHL) stint in Pittsburgh, we were heading into the lockout. I had conversations with some different people and there was going to be an opportunity in Saskatoon,” explained Molleken. “I sat down with my wife (Patsy) and said, ‘this is a chance for us to come back to Saskatchewan, to Saskatoon, and make Saskatoon our home.

“I still had two years left on my contract (in Pittsburgh) and (the Penguins) were going to add another year because of the lockout. But, the decision was made to come back here for a lot of reasons, family being number one and number two was getting the chance to work for the Brodsky family again.”

A third reason was the dual role of General Manager and Head Coach—the man responsible for all things to do with the Blades’ on-ice performance—that team president Jack Brodsky offered Molleken. Outside of back-to-back non-playoff seasons in 2006-07 and 2007-08, the Blades have been a winning team. In fact, Molleken has piled up another 225 victories going into this current season. He is the Blades’ franchise leader in games coached and victories and is fifth on the all-time WHL list for coaching victories at the time of this writing.

The good news is: he has no desire to go back to the NHL one more time.

“I’ve been in situations as a head coach in the National League and as an assistant coach,” explained Molleken. “The Western Hockey League is near and dear (to me). From a player, to a fan to now a coach and general manager, it’s something that is very dear to my heart. An opportunity to come back and work for the Brodsky family, coach the Saskatoon Blades, be a part of this community, is something that I thought that towards the end of my career, if I ever had that opportunity again, I would jump at it. And here we are!

“There’s been opportunity to leave and move on again, but we have a goal here that we want to try to accomplish and we feel we’re headed in the right direction.”

Indeed, a hockey nomad has settled down, and the city of Saskatoon and the Blades’ organization are much better because of that.

*****

Officially, two Western Hockey League teams have announced intentions to bid to host the 2013 Memorial Cup. Unofficially, it’s three!

The Canadian Hockey League’s season-ending championship tournament alternates venues between the three major junior leagues. In 2010, the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League were the Memorial Cup hosts. This season, the Ontario Hockey League’s Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors will be the host team with the 2012 tournament to be held in Saint John, New Brunswick, home of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Sea Dogs.

That means the 2013 Memorial Cup will be hosted by a WHL team again. So far, the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Prince George Cougars have declared they will submit a bid when bidding opens in April, 2011. Back on May 20, the Saskatoon Blades made their interest in hosting known.

“We’ve talked about this in the past,” said Jack Brodsky. “But 2013 is certainly on our radar.”

The Blades hosted the Memorial Cup in 1989… and the feeling is it may be their turn to do so again!