Cam Russell Demoted; Bobby Smith to Take Over As Herd Head Coach

After a disappointing start to the season, Halifax Mooseheads owner Bobby Smith has decided it’s time for him to step behind the bench himself. Smith announced today that he will be taking over the head coaching duties from Cam Russell.

There is no mention of an interim tag being placed on Smith’s coaching tenure, so it seems this is not just a bandaid solution until an appropriate replacement is found.

In what could be an awkward situation, Russell will stay on as assistant coach of the Moose’s backend (pun intended) and maintain his general manager duties.

Russell inherited a depleted team when he took on the coaching post, as much of the team’s future had been mortgaged in the hopes of contending for a championship. But like the housing market south of the border, the market went bust and Halifax had few assets left and had talent debt as opposed to depth.

Russell has seemingly done a decent job as GM, restocking the Herd with young talent. However some of that could be laid at his feet for poor performance on the ice, guaranteeing the team high draft picks the last two years. The Moosehead finished dead last in the league both years.

“Cam has done a tremendous job replenishing our depth chart with talented young hockey players,” said Smith. “It is now our job to make sure these players reach their potential. We owe it to ours fans to return to being an elite team in the QMJHL.”

Smith a 15-yr NHL veteran with Montreal and Minnesota (NorthStars) will making his coaching debut Tuesday night at the Metro Centre against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan at 7 p.m.

Follow Joel on twitter @jmdougall and check out his blog, http://www.route19.wordpress.com/.