Adam Sharpe has resigned as head coach of the St. Albert Merchants.
Sharpe tendered his notice officially a week ago but stuck around for Sunday's 9-4 loss to the North Edmonton Red Wings at Clareview Arena.
Merchants’ executives met Monday night to discuss the future of the junior B club this season. After talking to the remaining staff, Terry Moser was appointed acting head coach for the time being.
Team president Terry Cooke said the front office staff appreciates Sharpe's time behind the bench and wishes him well in the future.
“We thanked him for his service but he said it wasn't worth it for him in the circumstances. We appreciated the candid nature of his decision and we'll be going on from here.”
Cooke has not yet been able to call a full board meeting, so whether or not Moser will be the boss on the bench for the remainder of the season is uncertain. Cooke said that until he has a chance to have that meeting, he can’t say if the club will look further.
In Sharpe's resignation, he cited time constraints as a major factor in his decision. Trying to balance his work and personal life in addition to being both manager and coach of the team was simply eating up too much of his time.
And rumblings around the rinks indicate that there may have been issues between the players and Sharpe as well.
“I think the only way to describe it is dressing room turmoil and it's taken an increasing amount of time for him to manage it. We respect the contribution he's made and his decision on that point,” Cooke said. “It's a bit of everything. It's like what happens in Vegas, though. I don't know if anybody except the players and Sharpe knows. These groups go through storming and forming, but for everybody involved he decided the best thing to do was leave.”
It was a rough grind for Sharpe in his first season with the Merchants.
“It's been an uphill battle all year. This team has really had some individuals ... it's tough,” Sharpe said. “If I'm not doing something for the game itself I'm making phone calls. It's just too much and something had to give. And the situations with some of these guys, I just didn't have the time to put in any more.
“Unfortunately with work and business and home life, it has to come first. The time is way more than I anticipated. You're at the rink four nights a week and the extra stuff away from the rink, I was doing almost nothing but hockey and it kept building.”
Under his watch the Merchants (7-17-0-2) ranked sixth in the west division and were 1-11-0-1 on home ice. Defensively they gave up the second-most goals in the league at 136. Only the Wetaskiwin Icemen (3-22-0-1) surrendered more at 162. Last weekend the Icemen beat the Merchants 8-6 at Akinsdale Arena.
The Merchants were also forced to default a Dec. 6 game at Spruce Grove because of a lack of players.
Sharpe wished he could have continued on, but said he was excited for the future of the club.
“They're going to be a better team next year and the year after so I've been pushing them to make sure they have someone to fill in. For various reasons they've hit a rough patch right now.”
When pressed about the options the Money Men might have for coaching possibilities, Cooke reiterated that right now, the staff they have is in charge and that he'll wait until he talks to the rest of the club staff.
“We have talked with the other people involved and they're willing to carry on.”
Winless in seven games, the Merchants played Friday in Beaumont against the second-place Chiefs (20-4) in the east standings. The score was unavailable at press time. On Sunday the Merchants host the Stony Plain Flyers (11-14) at 8 p.m.
