For the new head coach of the Lloydminster Bobcats, the road to the Border City began innocently enough when Matt Brassard was a University of Prince Edward Island student, playing Atlantic university hockey with the Panthers.
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Brassard’s girlfriend, Camille Scherger, deserves the primary assist on the play that eventually brought him to Lloyd, where he’s been an assistant coach with the Bobcats for the past two Alberta Junior Hockey League seasons.
“We’ve been together for almost six years now,” Brassard said April 24 after being named the Bobcats’ head coach.
“We met at school — at UPEI — a long way from here. I remember the first time she told me she was from Lloydminster. I had no idea where it was.
“So, it’s kind of funny now. We chatted about that yesterday at the dinner table.”
The youthful head coach marvels at just how fast his career track has moved since he retired as a minor-pro player two years ago, at age 25, and became an assistant coach with the AJHL’s Bobcats.
Brassard, who turns 28 in August, has become a familiar face with the junior A organization and within a community that was foreign to him just a few years ago.
“It’s pretty funny now,” said the Barrie, Ont., native. “If you would have told me five years ago that I would be the coach in Lloydminster, I would have called you crazy.
“But it’s a place that I’ve really grown to like, and I’ve really appreciated everybody that’s helped me here in this city, and the fan support we get here and everything.
“I’m looking forward to trying to help bring a championship here (to Lloyd), as well as I can.”
While he values the guidance of his past and present hockey acquaintances, Brassard also underlines how much his family and personal connections have helped him progress as an up-and-coming coach.
Brassard has resided with Scherger’s parents, Jody and Bonnie, during his hockey and life journey in Lloydminster, while their daughter Camille finishes her chiropractor studies in Iowa.
“I’ve lived with them the last two years and they’ve been amazing to me,” he said after being appointed head coach. “Like I said to them last night, I wouldn’t be here without them. I wouldn’t be in this position if they weren’t able to support me and offer me a place to stay and everything. They’ve been great.
“It’s some of the best parts of my day when I get home and get to hang out with them. Jody is a big hockey guy, too, so we sit there and watch hockey all the time.
“I’m a big (Toronto Blue) Jays fan, so we watch baseball all the time, even though he probably thinks I’m annoying, yelling at the TV sometimes, when I’m frustrated with (the ball team).”
Camille Scherger is in her final year of studies at Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa.
“She should be graduating in February, and we’ll see what she wants to do,” Brassard said. “I know I’ve already started convincing her to come back to Lloyd, so we’ll see what she does there.
“She’s real good (as a chiropractor). She’s learned a lot and has really come a long way (in her craft). I know she’s really enjoying it. She’s looking forward to being done and starting her career with that.”
SPORTS AND POLITICS
Of course, Brassard’s support group beyond his Lloydminster circles includes his family back home in Ontario. While sports and politics are prominent in the picture, family remains in the forefront,
he said.
For the past decade, his father John has been a Conservative Member of Parliament representing the federal riding of Barrie South-Innisfil.
“My dad was a firefighter for 27 years, and then he decided to get into politics just in Barrie, where we’re from,” Brassard said.
“He was a city councillor for a while, and then the Member of Parliament job opened up in the area, so he ran and he got elected, and he hasn’t looked back since.”
The Lloydminster coach described his relationship with his father as more about personal life and sports talk than political discussion.
“I always tell people, and I know politics is a big thing, especially in Canada, (but) I never really speak to my dad about politics,” said Brassard, a former Ontario Hockey League defenceman and a 2017 NHL draft choice of the Vancouver Canucks.
“Whenever I talk to him, it’s always on a personal level, just talking about what’s going on in my life. We talk a lot about hockey, obviously. He’s a big hockey guy. He’s a big Montreal Canadiens fan. He’s rooting them on right now. When I called him to tell him the (coaching) news, he was at the bar watching with all his buddies.”
Brassard has another unabashed supporter in his mom, Liane.
“My mom has been an incredible support of me. She’s someone I speak to quite a bit about this (career) stuff. She gets it. My whole life, she’s been (supportive). We always used to joke, she could be my agent, because she always likes to give me advice on what to do.
“I really love (my parents) and they’ve supported me so much. My brothers and sister, as well, they’ve been huge supports of me. They couldn’t have been happier to hear the (coaching) news.”
Brassard’s promotion to head coach has created a buzz about a probable family reunion of sorts in Lloydminster this fall.
“I know they’ve already started planning a trip to come out for the home-opener,” he said with a chuckle. “So, we might see a whole Brassard clan here in September.”
Brassard has two brothers and a sister.
“My younger brother plays golf in the States at college, so he’s an athlete, too. The other two (siblings) played a little bit of sports growing up. Now, my sister is a teacher, and my oldest brother sells medical equipment. He’s doing pretty well for himself, too.”
Youngest brother Mitch is in his senior season of NCAA Division 2 golf at Tiffin University in Ohio.
“He was always a really good golfer,” Brassard said. “He played hockey, too, but at one point, he stopped playing hockey just to focus on golf. He’s quite good.”
Soon enough, golf season will turn to hockey season again as Brassard guides his other family — the Bobcats — in his first year as head coach.
“All I’m thinking about is doing the best I can right now for this organization and try to develop a culture that makes the guys want to play for each other and win for each other and bring a championship here to Lloyd,” he said after his appointment.
Brassard’s coaching staff includes assistant coach Paul-Antoine Deslauriers, who returns to the Bobcats for his second year with the organization. Along with coaching, Deslauriers’ responsibilities include strength and conditioning.
HAYGARTH ADDED AS ASSISTANT
The Bobcats added another assistant coach this week with the hiring of Lloydminster native Chase Haygarth.
Fresh from coaching his hometown U15 AAA Lloyd Lancers this past season, the 26-year-old Haygarth is a graduate of Red Deer Polytechnic, where he and his twin brother Easton played with the Kings in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference.
At the junior A level, the Haygarth brothers skated with the SJHL’s Flin Flon Bombers and the AJHL’s Whitecourt Wolverines.
Their father is Danny Haygarth, who played with and coached the AJHL’s Lloydminster Blazers (now Bobcats).
Just last month, Danny coached the Vermilion Tigers to a bronze-medal finish in the Alberta junior B championship at the Hub in Lloydminster.
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