Former Des Moines Buccaneers head coach has found a new home. There had been some talk of him ending up in Indiana, but that never happened. Next was Tri-City, but that never happened. Simon finally found a home, and it's a pretty good place. He takes over in St. Louis for Jon Cooper, who recently left for Green Bay.
Regg Simon has been named the new Head Coach and General Manager of the St. Louis Bandits’ NAHL franchise, announced V.P. of Hockey Operations and Bandits partner Kelly Chase.
“Regg Simon has the hockey experience and management skills necessary to continue the Bandits’ winning performance and advancement of players to NCAA Division I programs,” said Chase.
Simon begins his employment immediately and will be selecting the Bandits’ picks in the NAHL Entry Draft on Wednesday, May 21, said Chase.
Simon, a native of Elk River, Minn., brings a wealth of experience and success at the junior hockey level. He started his coaching career during the 2002-03 season with the Tri-City Storm of the USHL as an assistant coach and later as an interim head coach. The next season, he joined the Des Moines Buccaneers of the USHL as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. In 2005, he was promoted to the head coach and general manager position for the Buccaneers.
In his first full season as the head coach in Des Moines, Simon led the Buccaneers to the USHL Cchampionship. A season later, the Buccaneers lost in the semifinals in their bid to repeat as champions.
Over 100 wins, a 15-4 playoff record, 12 NHL draft picks and over 60 players sent to Division I college hockey later, coach Simon is coming to St. Louis.
“I’m excited and honored to be a part of what I believe to be the premier organization in the North American Hockey League,” said Simon. “The opportunity to come to a team whose success of winning and putting players into college hockey wasn’t a difficult decision.”
The Bandits have won back-to-back Robertson Cup national championships in 2007 and 2008. The most recent was hosted in St. Louis in early May, seeing the hometown team capture its second title on home ice in front of a crowd of over 2,000 people.
“At the end of the day, I wanted to be in a place where the players are taken care of and the ownership group has the same principals that I do,” added Simon. “The professionalism and honesty that I’ve been treated with here has impressed me.”
At the NAHL draft, the Bandits will look to replace a key group of players who were a large part of the their championship team.
“I believe there is a core group of returning players here that we can build around,” said Simon. “We’re going to go after players who we feel can play our style of hockey and come with a winning attitude that is expected in this organization.”
46 comments:
I knew he was not going to be a coach in the USHL anymore.
That's because there are no openings in the USHL. Tri-City? folds by August.
Good luck to Regg, he will do well. It is amazing for the NAHL talent to be so far below the talent in the USHL...that the USHL coaches drafted all most 20 players from that League!! And the USHL teams have to PAY $$ for those players! Case closed..there is not that much difference in talent! Good luck to the NAHL players!
Yeah, well the levels are pretty close I agree. Glad though we did not have Regg as a coach here in Tri-City.
He will never be as good as Cooper. He does not seem to be a popular coach these days.
Gamblers Rule!!!
First of all people who hide behind the word "anonymous" really bug me. Second, people who hide behind "anonymous" and fling crap, are no better than the crap they fling.
Tri-City's going to fold by August? What do you base that prediction on?
And you're glad Regg Simon didn't get the Tri-City coaching gig? Why? Wanna make wild accusations, then back 'em up for cryin' out loud.
And the USHL teams have to PAY $$ for those players! Case closed..there is not that much difference in talent! Good luck to the NAHL players!
5/19/08 5:46 PM
The USHL doesn't pay for drafted players.
John: Calm down for God's sake. Breathe! This is a blog and anything goes.
I personally do not believe the Storm will fold. That is just poppy cock. Simon, glad he found a job, took him a long time though. He is a bit overbearing and has an ego the size of Texas.
the ushl pays for any juinior players theytake from other junior leagues.
please dont post if you dont know.
I was told there is no fee for draft picks until they make the team.
Good!!!!Now he can fade away and no more rumors will be spread about him coaching for this and that team in the USHL.
They will need to pay the NAHL teams when the players are rostered by the USHL team.
re: the compensation...could all be a mute point if the USA Junior Council approves the proposal to eliminate the compensation rule.
Beyond that, the primary issue is if the player is considered a "veteran" ans is on the NAHL team's protected list.
Def of veteran from USAH Annual Guide:
Veteran Player – those players who played in ten (10) league games
during the previous season and were listed on the February 10
Protected List for the team on whose Protected List they appear or
who plays in his tenth (10th) league game during the current
season for the team on which Protected List the player appears. A veteran player is classified by the level of the most recent team on which he was playing when he earned veteran status.
-- fangers
Good luck your a great coach Regg hope to see you around
Regarding the talent of the USHL vs the NAHL, it is evident by the # of D1 commitments that the USHL is better. The top line of the NAHL teams could easily make a USHL team, but that doesn't mean they would be on the top line in the USHL.
I think it's extremely unfair to the NAHL players that their team has to be compensated to go to a better league post-season. It should be open between the end of season and until they are rostered post NAHL try-outs. I am only talking about a move from the NAHL to the USHL. Does a Canadian team have to compensate a US team if they went to the AJ or BC?
yes cdn teams have to pay for the players release...
Good Luck and Good Bye Regg. Hope you do not ruin the Bandits record.
Anonymous said...
I knew he was not going to be a coach in the USHL anymore.
5/19/08 2:33 PM
Me too. A bird told me he is a used to be coach.
Good luck Regg. You'll be fine wherever you go. You can't coach players who didn't want to be coached and that's exactly what happened to this years DM team. THEY didn't realize there was no I in TEAM. We'll see how they get ate up in college. They certainly got ate up against other USHL teams.
Shawn Edwards blocked Regg Simon from getting hired in Indianapolis. Somethng about a no-compete clause. That's the way to operate Edwards!
I know the Storm contacted coach Simon and he turned them down.
Did anyone else pick up on the "professionalism and honesty" comments in the release? Do you think that was directed at Edwards/Des Moines? I'm betting it was.
Regg Simon is a used to be coach, used to be in the USHL, used to be respected. Wonder if he can improve on the bench this year and win at least 25% of his games.
He did an absolute horrible job with the Bucs players last season. It was a crime!
Anonymous said...
Good luck Regg. You'll be fine wherever you go. You can't coach players who didn't want to be coached and that's exactly what happened to this years DM team. THEY didn't realize there was no I in TEAM. We'll see how they get ate up in college. They certainly got ate up against other USHL teams.
5/20/08 8:17 PM
This is a NASTY comment made against players by someone who doesnt know what they are talking ABOUT. The only persons TO blame for DSM's bad season is COACH Regg and COACH Knott for their unprofessional and unsuccessful season. Together THEY coached one of the most dreadful seasons of all time in the USHL. The poster of this nasty post is most likely Regg or his puppet fan. The players will be fine and will prosper. THIS ATTACK AGAINST PLAYERS NO MATTER WHAT TEAM THEY PLAY FOR OR WILL PLAY SUCKS! SHAME ON YOU!!!!
Actually Indy briefly considered Simon; however, from what I was told, he demanded too much money and too much power and when he saw things would not go his way, he up and left without another word.
Brad Thomas /Ice Fan
Who gives a rats arse about this guy. Afterall, he tanked like bigtime and I think both the Gamblers and the Bucs have better coaches than they both previously had.
Obviously if this guy was any thing special, he would have landed on a team. He didnt, big whoop, so move on. This subject is waste of blog space.
Green Bay Fan
Jeff was a great catch for the Ice. I am quite pleased with the choice made by the team. He is going to make a statement in the coaching world.
Agreed with last poster regarding Jeff coaching for Indy next season and hopefully many more seasons with a lot of luck!
Reggie is not anything to write home about or for that matter any thing to write or read on the walls about.
Cooper goes up and Simon goes down. Such is life.
Good luck Cooper!
Cooper is a great coach. You cannot compare Regg Simon to Jon. Jon is just way better and picked his former team to the bones.
You are 110% right poster before this one.
Here is the skinny on Des Moines...JP was not hire to coach, he will only be the coach for one year before they turn it over to Mcconnel....an unproven head coach...on top of the unproven guy thye already says is gonna be their head coach....doesn't sound like a good spot to me. not to mention the guys they hired is only a name, not a proven coach....only a puppet.
Jon is soo much better than Regg. Happy he moved up . Not sure about Regg. He had a really rotten year last year and hope he doesnt repeat it and cause us to choke.
Tryouts are coming and the camps are not full this year, wonder why not. Probably cause the kids know the tryout is a fund raiser. Unless there is another reason. Not looking like last year. Ouch..
I guess this season the Bandits did not read the wall writing and they will be the puppets for 2008-09. :(
The reasons could be (1) change in coaching is a big enough reason (2) too many other camps at the same time
(3) kids know there is not much chance.
The Bandits will never be the same.
From my sources close to the Bandit command, Simon is being lead on a short leash until he can prove himself. He is not running wild and careless like he did with his former team.
We have come too far to have the team change its pace by having a new coach.
Lets go Bandits.
Yeah, I heard neither the open camp or invite camp here (Des Moines) were filling up. Kids and parents are figuring out that the open camp is a money maker and nothing more.
Thats pretty much the case, however having 8 teams in any tryout is pretty good. More than that its just shot. I hate it when teams have more than 1 open camp, its just fund raising; however, its good for kids to skate and see other competion so it balances out.
Who cares about camps etc., lets just hope our teams with our NEW coach will do good this season. I know that we will not be as good as before but hopefully WE will not be bottom feeders.
The bandits are in for a wild ride this season for sure. Agree with poster before me that the team does not sink because of the coach change and the players departing.
Simon must have an ego problem. This week he just side stepped around a small group of employee/fans and blew us off. What an jerk.
Heard from another guy that he is kind of a jerk also.
I am a former house parent and I think anyone who knows anything about coach Regg knows he's not a jerk and is all class. When did he never have time to talk to someone in the halls at the rink? He always did. Does anyone else think there are really St. Louis people on this blog writing about him? C'mon...that's Edwards trying to get in more shots and deflect the attention away from him and his ambitions for his kid to be on the team, and the fact that it was Edwards who got the third sheet of ice built which ultimately led to the Buc's going bankrupt! (Do you think he had that planned out at??? Hmmm...)
Well I need to express my feelings towards the last poster that I tried to leave a comment on a little earlier today. Its not fair to me that he be able to accuse me of not being in St. Lou,
it pisses me off Ryan.
No more comments on this. The horse has been beat.
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