Advertisement

Junior hockey coach axed 3 days after spouse gave birth to their first child

Neate Sager

Well, this is one way to grant parental leave — and on the day after World Prematurity Day, no less. These two events are not necessarily one and the same in the results-driven hockey business where coaches are hired to be fired and it's not how far one falls, but how high they bounce.

On Friday, Josh Hauge coached the Tri-City Storm of the United States Hockey League after learning his spouse, Allison Hauge, needed emergency surgery to deliver their first child. On Monday, three days after the couple welcoming three-pound, 11-ounce Hanley into the world a month prior to his due date, the "underachieving" Storm sacked Hauge as its coach and general manager.

Owner Kirk Brooks is covering the 34-year-old Hauge's salary for the season, so it's not completely cold, but the timing is very eye-bulging.

From Stephen Heisler:

The baby boy ... weighed in at just three pounds, eleven ounces. He's going to be fine according to a very proud papa.

Now imagine Hauge's surprise when the boss called Monday morning saying that he no longer has a job. Hauge is one of those guys that knows how to make the best of just about any situation, so this news is not going to get to him.

"I want to thank all the players for their time and effort," Hauge said on Monday. " I'm just going to relax and enjoy spending time with little Hanley and my wife. This is our first child so I'm excited to be home with my family." (JuniorHockey.com)

There are always several sides to a story. The Kearney, Neb.-based Storm are 4-9-2 for a .333 point percentage through 15 games, leaving them tied for last in the USHL's Western Conference for points with the Fargo Force and in-state counterpart Lincoln Stars. (The state's other USHL entry, the Omaha Lancers, are leading the league.)

The Storm were 46-62-10 under Hauge's command, which began in December 2011 and covered only one complete season. In a release, Brooks stated:

"I believe we’ve done everything in terms of providing our coaching staff and players with the tools necessary to win hockey games, but in the end we still feel the team is underachieving and felt it was time to make a change.” (Kearney Hub)

Twenty-two months ago, when Hauge was in his first month in the job, Brooks said, "The only way Josh isn't going to be here is if a (NCAA) Division I school offers him a contract." Talk about the dreaded vote of confidence.

The nature of the beast in junior hockey is that the owners want to win. There is no intent here to throw mud at the USHL or one of its owners. Being in charge means making tough calls; the timing points up how people who are born competitors are very different from you and I and all the other couch-surfing coaches/GMs/owners. Nevertheless, it's hard to imagine what it would be like to have a 180-degree turn in one's employment status during the life-changing experience of becoming a parent.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.