Despite being on the hot seat, Guelph Storm coach/GM Jason Brooks still has high hopes for his team.
Jason Brooks has learned to develop a thick skin.
Just as any head coach and general manager in major junior hockey would, the dual-titled boss of the Guelph Storm was bound to face his share of criticism. But the hot seat upon which Brooks sits extended beyond criticism lately -- to the point where the rumour-mill suggested he had been let go as head coach in Guelph last week.
After meeting with team ownership last Wednesday, Brooks was said to be out as the team's head coach, but would remain as GM. It was just the latest in a long line of speculation surrounding Brooks and his jobs for the better part of a calendar year.
Those rumours are hard to ignore, but until Brooks hears them from ownership, he maintains a business-as-usual approach.
"I answer to my owners," Brooks said Tuesday. "Until they say otherwise, I'm doing my job. I can't control what the media is printing or what the media says. I just have to deal with it and worry about what I can control and that's the players here."
Some thought Brooks may have been given a mulligan after last season's debacle, where the Storm barely qualified for the playoffs. Brooks missed substantial time after undergoing back surgery during the season and thus could not have been held completely responsible for the team's shortcomings.
But it hasn't stopped arm-chair pundits around junior hockey, whose calls for his job are louder than ever this season. The Storm is just as inconsistent as it had been a year earlier, with the same core of veteran players once believed to be the foundation of a championship-calibre team.
Brooks and his team are clearly in a make-or-break season. If they want to rebuild, Guelph has many assets that would be appealing on the trade market in the form of their 1991-born players, most notably Taylor Beck and Peter Holland.
None of his players have expressed unhappiness or a desire for a change of scenery, Brooks said.
The mentality is geared more towards bringing in, rather than shipping out. Guelph is just one of the teams speculated as to having interest in Windsor's Ryan Ellis and Zack Kassian, both purportedly on the block.
"I would say the Guelph Storm is interested in making the team better," Brooks said. "Whether it's an Ellis, a Kassian -- it could be other players. We want to make ourselves better. We want to make ourselves the best team we can possibly be and that starts first with the guys in the locker room at this time."
As it should.
The Storm is not a team that should be scratching and clawing its way into the playoffs with its depth of talent -- which, of course, is the main point of contention among those calling for Brooks' firing.
Guelph heads into Wednesday's games tied for seventh in the Western Conference standings and just fourth in the Midwest Division. The team is also mired in a three-game losing streak and the team's winning percentage is barely above .500.
Quite simply, the results and expectations haven't aligned so far this season, but the much-maligned head coach isn't about to wave the white flag.
"Expectations are high here," he said. "When expectations are high and you're not achieving those expectations, negativity can come out and the frustrations come out. Each player in that room wants to be better. Each player wants to win and be successful. We just have to do a good job of working that out and coming together."
Strangely, Brooks has reason for optimism. The Storm eventually found its game and began reaching those expectations late last season to qualify for the Western Conference's seventh seed.
The Storm won 14 of its last 18 games en route to the playoff berth, but was quickly bounced in five games by the London Knights in the opening round. It's for that reason that Brooks still has faith in his group, even if others don't.
"It ultimately comes down to the guys in the room," he said. "The players in the room believed in themselves and believed in each other and were able to turn this thing around last year and that's why I feel they're capable of doing it again.
"A little bit of adversity doesn't hurt as long as you can fight through it and battle through it and that's what it comes down to," Brooks continued. "It's not like we're a five (win) and 15 (loss) team right now.
"We're so close to being that team that people expect."
Whether Brooks will be around if it happens is another story.
