It was straight into the deep end for new Estevan Bruins head coach Drew Kocur.
The club had just moved on from Jason Tatarnic two days earlier, Jan. 20, 2025, and who but the Flin Flon Bombers, amid an unbeaten run that would only end after 25 games in town at Affinity Place in Estevan.
It was his first ever Junior A game as the bench boss.
“I had a lot of texts leading up to the game,” Kocur says, “and a lot of them just kind of said to take it all in because these kinds of things don’t happen often – you only get to coach your first SJHL game once, right?”
“It all boiled down to what I learned from (Jason Tatarnic),” he adds.
“I learned to manage the bench effectively at this level from him, and I did take it all in. It was great to face the Bombers and coach against (long-time Flin Flon coach Mike Reagan). Once the puck dropped, my assistants and I went to work.”
Kocur, 29, hails from Regina, SK, and joined the Bruins as assistant coach ahead of the 2023-24 campaign.
He scouted for the Weyburn Red Wings right before the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, his crowning achievement in hockey so far was leading the Pilot Butte Storm of the Prairie Junior ‘B’ Hockey League to the 2023 championship.
That winning mentality is something he is desperate to bring to Estevan.
“(That Storm team) we believed in ourselves,” he says.
“We had made some moves at the deadline, played in front of a packed rink at home, and I will remember the day we won it all for the rest of my life. The other coach shook my hand and welcomed me to the ‘winner’s table’, which meant a lot to me because not everyone gets to win a championship in their lifetime.”
Kocur moved to Estevan with his wife, Celeste, a dental assistant, whom he married in July 2024. He is working to help the Bruins push for a late-season playoff spot and continue developing a group that could return many players next year.
While the Bruins players appreciated Tatarnic and all he did for them, they have also worked hard to buy into what Kocur is preaching.
“The boys love having Drew behind the bench,” says Bruins’ captain Brady Wilson.
“He’s a guy that loves the game, and his attitude is contagious at the rink every day. He’s a great communicator and makes it clear how he wants us to play: fast, hardworking, and gritty. It sucked that Tarts got let go in the middle of the season, but Drew has stepped up and done a fantastic job. Drew would do anything for the boys, and we would do anything for him.”
Kocur’s personal coaching philosophy falls in line with Wilson’s suggestion.
Drew mentions that it “comes down to culture” to create a positive environment, with the right intentional processes and structures that work for this particular group, and stick to it daily.
Kocur is learning to manage the extra load and his additional role as Director of Corporate Sales with the Bruins. He is leaning on his long-time friend Turner Ripplinger, an Estevan Bruins alumnus, long-time Bruins assistant Aren Miller, and the club’s extensive staff to help him navigate the ship.
“The best part of this job is the extra time to learn and work,” Kocur says.
“Time management is so important, so I’m at the rink early, get a workout in, and then work all day. I love being at the rink. Affinity Place is awesome, so yes, it’s a lot, but as much as I love my wife, it’s hard to get home sometimes.”
“My wife is amazing, though,” he adds. She knows what I want to do and is on board with it. She is a great partner, and I appreciate her a lot.”
Kocur mentions that the Estevan community has been incredible to him. The fact that the community cares as much as it does and that it wants to sponsor and support the team as much as it does makes working for the club a pleasure.
“They come to games and want to see the team do well,” Kocur says.
“It’s never in a perfect moment when a coach gets fired or moves on, but we feel that if we compete hard every night, win some games, and make the playoffs a possibility, then hopefully we can be a team the rest of the year that the community can be proud of.”
Away from the rink, Kocur is a scratch golfer who regularly competes at the provincial and national levels. He and assistant coach Ripplinger even have a Saskatchewan golf-focused podcast called “Off the Hosel.” They have invited numerous prominent guests, from professional sports figures to top media personalities.
Kocur comes by his hockey smarts quite honestly, having family relations to Saskatchewan hockey royalty Joey Kocur, Wendel Clark, Barry Melrose, and Chandler Stephenson.
He is also related to the terrific Flin Flon Bombers photographer Kelly Kocur Jacobson, who famously diffused the potential brawl involving the Bruins and Bombers in the 2022 SJHL final.
Yet Drew continues to make a name for himself independent of his name or family; for that and more, he is clearly one of Saskatchewan’s Finest.
