PHOTO COURTESY GRANDE PRAIRIE STORM/TAMMENTHIA DIESEL Ryan Aasman coaches the Grande Prairie Storm during their game against Whitecourt Tuesday in Grande Prairie.
Growing up in Medicine Hat, Ryan Aasman knew he’d probably wind up behind the bench someday.
After all, his dad used to illustrate plays on the dining room table with dimes and pennies.
But the head coach of a junior A team at the age of 27? That’s a little sooner than he envisioned, but he’s not complaining.
Aasman was named interim coach of the Grande Prairie Storm Tuesday morning after head coach Matt Keillor was fired.
He garnered his first win in the new role that night, a 3-2 decision over the Whitecourt Wolverines.
“I was excited about getting the (assistant’s) job in the summer, doing coaching full time,” said the University of Lethbridge graduate, who’d assisted with Lethbridge’s midget AAA team last season. “It’s been a lot of fun so far but the promotion was definitely a surprise.
“I’ve got nothing to lose for sure. Just come in and be myself, do what I think I can do to help the players become better.”
That mantra will sound familiar to anyone who knew Ryan’s dad. Tony Aasman and his son were regulars at the old Medicine Hat Arena, to the point Ryan now has a tattoo of their regular seats on his left bicep.
Tony died in 2008 after a battle with an aggressive form of cancer. He got to coach his son for one memorable period in a WHL exhibition game-turned-fundraiser, and his funeral was attended by more than 1,000 people at the Kinplex.
Ryan went on to play defence for five different WHL teams, then four seasons in university, always paying attention to the game in the way his dad taught him.
“Growing up I knew I was probably going to be a better coach than player just because of who my dad was, and how my upbringing was,” he said. “I was never a kid at Tigers games running around playing mini-sticks, I was forced to sit there and watch Kris Russell closely for skill development purposes, and look at this power play. My mind was completely dictated towards analyzing hockey constantly.
“I see a lot of him in me in how I approach breaking down games, how I watch games, and just the passion and intensity that comes out of it, being loud, being assertive and caring, wanting what’s best for the players.”
A proponent of analytics, Ryan’s spent countless hours this season analyzing footage and feeding the results back to his players. More importantly he met with players regularly, forging relationships with teenagers he can still relate to as one of the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s youngest coaches.
Most of that won’t change much in his new role.
“The difference was trying to get myself organized to be ready to run a morning skate, then take over a bench, lead practice today and tomorrow and get ready for three more games on the weekend,” he said Wednesday. “It’s been pure chaotic so I’ve been trying to be as organized as I can, as efficient as I can.”
Fittingly, the Storm’s next game is in Brooks Friday night. The 13-16-3 club will be in tough against the 33-1-1 defending national champion Bandits, whose coach Ryan Papaioannou went from assisting the Lethbridge midget AAA’s in 2007 to a junior A assistant, then the head coach and general manager in Brooks in 2009.
He was 25 at the time. Two years younger than Aasman, but a perfect blueprint for the Gas City native to follow.
“I still feel I haven’t earned anything yet, and I don’t want to ever get complacent throughout this whole thing,” said Ryan. “At the end of the day I’m just really thankful to show up and be paid to do a job that you love to do every day.
“I’ve been through enough hard times to not just want to be happy all the time. This has given me so much joy, given me a second chance at loving the game again and trying to be successful at it.”
