Bob Woods begins road to rebuilding the Saskatoon Blades

The Bob Woods era starts now in Saskatoon.

The Blades named him their new general manager and coach on Monday. The announcement comes over two months after the firings of GM Lorne Molleken and head coach Dave Struch.

The road to handing over the keys to Woods all started with a recommendation from team trainer Steve Hildebrand.

“I found out about the position from Steve Hildebrand; he’s a family friend of ours,” says Woods, who formerly played for the Brandon Wheat Kings. “Steve put in a word and told me about what the job involved. Then I put in my name and was contacted and that’s when the process started. I talked with the owner (Mike Priestner) and spent three hours on the phone with his son and managing partner Colin (Priestner). It’s been a whirlwind, but I’m happy that it all came together.”

Woods takes over a Blades team that is heading into their second year of an extended rebuild. The Bridge City Boys weren’t in the playoff mix last season with a 16-51-2-3 record. They sat at the bottom of the East Division because their cupboard was extremely thin after Molleken sold the farm in 2011 to acquire Brayden Schenn from the Wheat Kings and loaded up in 2013 to host the MasterCard Memorial Cup.

Woods’ impressive hockey resume certainly indicates that he has the knowledge and intuition to build the Blades into a contender. He spent five years in the NHL as an assistant coach for the Anaheim Ducks and Washington Capitals. In addition, he won a Calder Cup as a player, assistant coach and head coach with the AHL’s Hershey Bears.

Woods, 44, has his work cut out for him, though. His club is thin on 1997, 1998 and possibly 1999 talent. The Blades did not have a first-round pick in the past two bantam drafts and don’t hold their pick in the 2015 draft. But they do hold the Kootenay Ice's top 2015 pick after acquiring it from the Kamloops Blazers in January in a deal that revolved around Matt Revel.

Despite the big obstacles in front of him, Woods is confident the Blades will be a contender by 2016-17.

“I think three years is enough time to put together a very competitive team,” says Woods. “Saskatoon has never won a championship and that’s the goal (to win their first title). We want to get better every year and move forward towards our goal.”

It is ultimately impossible to give an accurate assessment on where the Blades will stand three years down the road. Their best player – Russia native Nikita Scherbak – will have graduated to the pros by then and top blueliners Nelson Nogier and Jordan Thomson will be in their 20-year-old seasons if they are still in the junior ranks. They did draft a handful of highly regarded prospects at the 2014 bantam draft such as Edmonton South Athletic Club winger Josh Paterson and Notre Dame Hounds defenceman Jake Kustra. But whether they can make the jump to major junior puck remains to be seen.

The Blades hope to take a notable step forward this year by getting back into the playoffs. It is possible, but they are banking on a lot of things to fall into place for that to happen.

A spot in the second season will heavily lie on the shoulders of Scherbak and Nogier. Scherbak, whom NHL Central Scouting Service ranks No. 15 among North American skaters, will be expected to top his previous 78-point rookie season. Nogier, meanwhile, will be relied on to anchor the back end and make an impact in the dressing room as a vocal leader.

Nonetheless, the hopeful playoff berth only starts with Scherbak and Nogier. Thomson, goalie Troy Trombley and centre Alex Forsberg, whom the Blades acquired from the Prince George Cougars at the trade deadline, will be heavily relied on to make notable impacts. Thomson undoubtedly has the talent, but there are question marks surrounding how dedicated he is to the game. Trombley, who posted a 4.08 average and .899 save percentage in 49 games last year, needs to be an above-average goalie who makes all of the easy saves. The expectations set on Forsberg for the most part aren’t realistic. Some believe the 19-year-old has the potential to be one of the top forwards in the league because he was the No. 1 overall pick of the 2010 bantam draft. Sources, however, tell BTN some teams ranked him outside of the top 10 in that draft. Therefore, his No. 1 pick status is a tad deceiving and 40-60 points would be a quality season for the Waldheim, Sk., native.

Regardless of whether the Blades make the playoffs next year, all signs indicate the organization is in good hands. Not just with Woods, either. The new ownership group showed they are dedicated to building a winner by putting up the cash to bring in an esteemed hockey mind.

Kelly Friesen is a Buzzing the Net columnist for Yahoo! Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KellyFriesen