Casey Torres deserves a shot

The future does look bright for local players. Not so much for Vees' assistant GM and Director of Hockey Operations Casey Torres with the Kingston Voyageurs.

I cannot help but notice the omisson of one name among the Vees' administration whose name did not come up in the Whig article "the Future looks bright for the Vees." Casey Torres.

Last summer, Kingston fans were not sure they would even have a team when Gregg Rosen announced he wanted out.

When new ownership was found, putting a team on the ice got a late start. They did not have the benefit of a whole summer like other teams to recruit.

Once two guys from the Vees' past came on board in Dennis Duchesne and Casey Torres, the team began to take shape. They were named General Manager and assistant GM respectively.

But they didn't have a bonafide goaltender and the Colt Kennedy soap opera really set them back. There was so little time to get it all ironed out before the first puck drop on the Vees' season.

A new coaching staff, brand new with only assistant, Jamie McKinven, had previous experience at this level. They really had their work cut out for them.

But when the team imploded late in the season, in the infamous Cobourg fiaco, Torres took this team, by the scruff of their necks, and focussed on getting through the last three games of the regular season without a number of suspended players.

Torres and Duchesne filled in on the bench and took this team's dreadful penalty killing and turned it into something respectable. And they got the most out of the players they had.

Torres restored their confidence in believing they really were better than their regular season record showed. He got them to begin to believe in themselves.

And Torres stayed behind the bench throughout the Wellington series when Birkas and McKinven came back off their Cobourg suspensions.

We all know what happened in that Wellington series. As well as Charlie Finn played, there is no doubt in my mind that Torres made a difference to the paper-thin confidence the Vees had prior to that series.

And when he was taken off the bench for the Trenton series, the existing coaches took over and piloted the wave right through Trenton.

Yet scarcely any of them pubicly thanked Torres for his hand in the his willingness to step up when it looked dire for a fragmented team that self-destructed in that Cobourg game.

All the talk among the fans who really pay their way to watch the Vees' games, said that Torres made that immeasurable difference. And many of the players thought so too.

But those same fans sense that the ownership, in its' wisdom, is contemplating not renewing Torres' role in the team. I can only guess as to why not. But my guess is, that Torres is only interested in a head coaching job and the Vees' don't want to give it to him because they have their guy in part owner Colin Birkas.

Now in fairness to Birkas, one of the best coaches in the business in Whitby's Curtis Hodgins gave Birkas credit. He noted that he had a ton of respect for the Kingston Voyageurs and what Colin had done with them this year after their four staright games elimination of the Vees.

But the fans know that Torres is really the guy who should be there as head coach. He's played at this level, he's coached as an assistant at this level and he's won big.

The guy is clearly a winner who knows how to get the most out of his players. It's a rare quality that few coaches, young or not, have in spades.

Torres is young at twenty-five and I know there is a place for him somewhere head coaching. The really sad thing is that he won't likely win the endorsement from the current Vees' regime who are convinced they are the sole reason for the Vees surprising playoff run.

Success or failure of a team is often never simple. There is never a definitive answer. But when credit is being doled out for modest success, those most deserving don't get enough of it.

If I could guess about Torres being back next year as assistant GM and Director of Hockey Operations, I would have to say the chances are slim.

One, because he's ready for bigger challenges and two because the current ownership and coaches do not appreciate his overall worth.

There' an old adage that if you really are good enough, they will find you. In Torres' case, with a young family and limited resources, he isn't likely to market himself with mobility in mind.

And unlike former Vees' assistant championship coach Peter Goulet (Nepean), he isn't ready to move to where he can fully realize his talents.

I will be pleasantly surprised if he stays on in the same job roles, even more surprised if the current ownership offers it to him.

I guess we will just have to see what this summer brings for the Kingston Voyageurs.










Wayjoy