The Beaver Valley Nitehawks announced the appointment of a new General Manager on Wednesday.
The Beaver Valley executive and former GM Terry Jones named Jamie Cominotto as the new Nitehawks GM effective immediately.
“It’s going to be an experience,” said Cominotto, a Greater Trail native. “I’ve been the assistant GM for three years, so I’ve been fortunate enough to be around the ins and outs of the managing side of things and Terry is a good example to learn from … I’m excited, it’s going to be a challenge for sure, especially next year and losing a lot of guys.”
Jones will continue to lead the team on the bench as head coach as he’s done since 1997, and says, that from a hockey-operations perspective, the Cominotto reclamation only made sense.
“Over time we’ve been looking at the process of our entire coaching staff and we’ve worked hard to delegate all the duties,” said Jones. “We’re doing this all largely as a hobby, so with all of us breaking down our duties it makes the job more manageable, and it also creates a team approach to building a hockey team.”
Jones has held the GM position since 2006 when he took over for Hank Deadmarsh, and, except for 2007-08 when Craig Mohr held the role, combined that role with that of head coach. Cominotto was B.V.’s assistant coach in 2009-10 and assistant GM from 2014-17.
“In his last position with our team, he did all the player personnel work so it’s just natural that it just fits into his family situation that he’s able to take this on and take this role full time as the General Manager,” said Jones. “It’s a very exciting time for him I think, and it’s a very exciting time for me too.”
Jones is also GM of the BC Major Midget Kootenay Ice, in addition to B.V. coaching duties, so hanging up one hat should give him more time to devote to his other callings.
“The GM portfolio is a big one, and over the past year I’ve noticed, for myself, to be just that much harder in terms of recruiting players.”
Much of the GM’s job focuses on recruiting, communicating with scouts and players, organizing camps, talking with parents, carding players, in addition to numerous other managerial duties.
Cominotto has already begun recruiting and been in contact with Nitehawks scout Cory Clark (father of former Hawks goalie Brett Clark) in Grand Prairie, which has been a lucrative pipeline for the Nitehawks.
“We’re looking a lot more at the Major Midget, but we still have our guys in Alberta, doing a lot of work for us so we’re very fortunate that way,” said Cominotto. “Cory Clark does an amazing job for us … It’s early but we do have a few irons in the fire and that’s always a good start.”
Jones won his first KIJHL championship and Cyclone Taylor Cup as an assistant coach with the Hawks in 1997. Since then, the Hawks have won eight KI titles, four provincial Cyclone Cup championships, and a Keystone Cup (Western Canadian championship).
After winning the KIJHL championship and Cyclone Taylor Cup last season, the Hawks are currently in third place in the KIJHL Neil Murdoch Division with five games remaining in the regular season.