Josh Hepditch only played one year for the Americans (2011-2012) but if your ever spent time talking to him you new he had bigger goals in mind. He was a champion in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playing for the Moncton Wildcats, the Canadian University Sport (CIS) where he won the University Cup three times playing for the University of New Brunswick. He was also selected as an Academic All Canadian.
We caught up with Josh and his new bride Kathryn in Creston, Britich Columbia where he is the new coach and general manager of the Creston Valley Thunder Cats which is a Junior B team in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL). Kathryn is a physical therapist at Creston Physioworks.
Kathryn, tell us a little about your summer?
Josh and I began our trek home from Texas a week after the season > sadly ended in late April. We drove East with teammate Nick Layton > and his fiance Melissa Russwurm following closely with 2 hockey > bags strapped to the roof of our car. We spent a couple days in > Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and then in Virginia Beach, Virginia, > along with a couple other stops in Georgia and Connecticut. It was a > bitter sweet trip because we weren't ready to leave Allen; however > we were looking forward to seeing our families. > When we arrived home we quickly settled back into our Canadian > lives. Josh began his summer job installing pools and I resumed my > position as a physiotherapist with CBI Health Centre in Fredericton, > NB. > We got married on August 4th, 2012, which was my 26th birthday and > my parents' wedding anniversary. It was the most perfect, sunny day > and went without a glitch. A week later we headed West again to the > other side of the country.
Josh, How did you end up in Creston? Were you looking for a coaching job?
I realized I wanted to coach about 4 years ago. I wanted to play > at the highest level for as long as I could. I tell everyone I meet > that last year in Texas was one of the best years of my life. Being > a professional in the hockey world is a great job, and knowing that > I wanted to coach, I told myself last summer if I had a good > opportunity I would take it and begin my coaching career and work my > way up to hopefully one day coach in the professional leagues. > The job all came about when I was coaching a spring team in Montreal > and I ran into my former coach, Danny Flynn, (Head Coach/GM with the > Moncton Wildcats) who was scouting at the tournament. We caught up > and I explained to him my goals and it wasn't a few weeks later he > called and told me about a great opportunity in Creston, BC. I did > my research and it looked good so I applied and was shortly after > hired.
I see your job title is General Manager/Coach. What are the off
ice responsibilities that go with the job of General Manager? > > General Manager is usually the person over seeing the team as a > whole so I am kind of my own boss. Being the general manager I also > have to keep up with what is happening with player transactions > (trades, cuts, recruits) in our league and the leagues around us. As > a general manager I am responsible for making the trades, cuts, and > the tough decisions that go with the game of hockey. I try to keep > up on the movement in other leagues and watch players that I could be > interested in down the road. Creston, being such a small > organization, the job head coach/general manager gives me all the > duties from coaching,teaching, planning, making trades, signing of > players, road trip planning in regards to meals and hotels and > itineraries. It's a lot of jobs in one but it gives me a chance to > learn a bunch of different roles all at once.
What are some of the challenges moving from player to coach? > The biggest thing that I am dealing with right now is the fact I > can't do anything in regards to the outcome of the game. I find > myself getting so into the game I want to be back on the ice as a > player, trying to make a difference. I am starting to get used to it > but it's hard. Also the way you deal with the players; you can be > friends with them but you also have to be their boss and the one to > make the difficult decisions. When the team goes through tough times > a lot of the pressure comes down on the coach and I have to be able > to handle the pressure. I thought I would miss it way more than I do > and as much as I miss being a player it helps to be on the ice > everyday and still involved with the game.
What is it like living in what seems like a small town (under > 6000 according to Wikipedia)? Are you used to living a long way from > home yet? What do you guys do when you have time off, if you have any? > > Creston is a very small town. We have 4 traffic lights that go > down one main road. We can walk anywhere in town in under 30 > minutes, and we already run into at least one person we know every > time we go to the grocery store and we've only been here for 7 > weeks. We're really enjoying the town, it's very quaint and > picturesque. We're surrounded by spectacular mountains and we're right > on Kootneay Lake, which is beautiful. Creston is located 10 minutes > North of the Idaho border, so we frequently visit our American > neighbors to get a shopping fix. To give you an idea of how small it really is, our closest Wal Mart is over an hour drive. That is taking some getting used to, but the friendly community and beautiful scenery makes up for the lack of shopping. > We're not used to being this far from home. We really miss our > family, who are about 5000kms away and a 4 hour time difference. > We're anxiously awaiting visitors. > There's lots to do in our time off, although we haven't had > much. There's hiking and biking trails all over the mountains and > valleys. We have 5 ski hills within an hour drive, some have > already had snow fall on the summits. > Most of our weekends have been spent at the hockey rink, but we've > had a chance to explore some the communities we travel to for hockey.
Kathryn, I know you could not work in Texas because you didn't have
a work visa. Not being able to work in your field as a physical therapist
was difficult. How did you get the job at Creston PhysioWorks & More? Did you > have the job lined up before you arrived in Creston? > > > One of the board members for the Thundercats hockey team is an > acquaintance of the owners of Creston PhysioWorks & More. He > contacted the owners and they quickly got in touch with me. This > all happened while Josh and I were in Fredericton, so I had the > position lined up before we arrived. > In such a small town, it's difficult to recruit physical therapists, > so they were just as excited as I was to accept the full-time > position. In fact, the clinic is located in a brand new, state of > the art recreation centre, equipped with a fitness centre, aquatic > centre, curling club and hockey rink, which houses none other than > the Creston Valley Thundercats so Josh and I work in the same > building!
What do you miss about the North Texas Area & the Allen Americans? > > We miss the people in North Texas and the hospitality of the > Allen Americans community. We also miss the camaraderie of the > players and their families. We made so many friends and shared so > many great memories. Allen was such a beautiful place to live; there > was so much to do we're never just sitting around.
Anything else you would like to share or any message for your friends here in Texas? > We really miss everybody there; we made so many close friends not > just on the team but in the community and organization. We are > planning on making a trip near the end of the Americans' season to > visit. In saying that, I won't mention individual names but thanks > so much to everyone that made our year so special. The town of Allen > has so much to be proud of and the Allen Americans is a first class > organization from the bottom right to the top. We hope to see > everyone sometime this season and we wish you all the best > throughout this hockey season.
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