KAMLOOPS — Serge Lajoie is out after one season as the head coach of the Kamloops Blazers.
The team and Lajoie parted ways in what the Blazers say in a media release was a mutual parting.
Lajoie was brought in last summer after the Blazers let Don Hay go.
Lajoie’s family continued to live in Edmonton for the season, and after the season was over Lajoie say he had to make a decision on his future.
“At the end of the year I had to evaluate was it a good fit for me personally.” says Lajoie. “I wanted to make sure I could commit fully to the Kamloops Blazers — and I did’nt feel that would have been 100 percent possible.”
“When we had a review and we talked about the season this year,” says general manager Matt Bardsley, “I think that we realized that maybe it wasn’t the right fit. He referenced the family situation and it’s not just about what your’e doing during the season, but the off season and the committments that you have.”
The Blazers say the search will begin immediately for a new head coach.
That search may not have to go far.
Darryl Sydor, one of the teams part owners, was brought in part way through the season as a fulltime assistant, leading to speculaton that he was grooming to take over the role as head coach.
“There was always a lot of assumtions being made when that happened.” says Lajoie. “It was an opportunity for me to learn from somebody, work with somebody else. It pushed me a little bit out of my comfort zone, and I opened up to what he had to say — I thought together as a coaching staff we really helped a young group.”
“We’ve expressed to Darryl that we would like to have him back on the coaching staff.” says Matt Bardsley. “We haven’t even discussed as a head coach. But our plan is to have Darryl back in a coaching capacity.”
