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Caps bolster support staff

Sarah Simpson - Cowichan Valley Citizen
September 4, 2005

Cowichan Valley Capitals staffers had a busy end to the off-season, announcing Tuesday that assistant coach Jason Wild, athletic therapist Melissa Skibinski and play-by-play announcer Steve Sxwithul-txw have joined the Caps for their upcoming campaign.

Wild, 26, was an assistant coach with the 2004/05 British National League Champion Bracknell Bees after spending some time as the head coach of the Summerland Sting Junior B team, a team the Caps have acquired some players from in the past.

As a player, Wild played his Junior Hockey with the Vees (Panthers) in his hometown of Penticton before spending three seasons at Red Deer College. In the summer, Wild is a mainstay in the Okanagan where he is an instructor at the popular Okanagan Hockey School.

"Our players will benefit from having three quality coaches to work with," said Cowichan general manager Clayton Wright Tuesday. "We are excited about adding Jason to our coaching staff. He will compliment both head coach Scott Robinson and assistant Doug Bodger."

Wild replaces former Caps assistant Steve Bodden on the bench after he moved south to join the Victoria Salsa in the off season.

"We're working on his job assignments right now," said Robinson Thursday. "He's going to be on the bench full time and doing the full time assistant's job. We're happy that he's landed in Duncan."

With Wild, Robinson and Bodger already behind the bench, Skibinski had to find space on the bench too. She's already found herself a good spot having scouted it out during all the training camp ice sessions and games to date for the Caps. The Fisher Branch, Manitoba product said she's looking forward to working with the players, coaches and volunteers this season.

Skibinski graduated from the University of Manitoba's Athletic Therapy Program and is a certified athletic therapist through the Canadian Athlete Therapist Association. Her experience includes internships with the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks and the Vancouver Canucks' American Hockey League affiliate, the Manitoba Moose.

Skibinski takes over for longtime, twice-retired Eddie Heyes.

"She's had some varying experience around the world actually," said Robinson. "We've found her to be very hard working and personal and just a great addition."

Sxwithul-txw, pronounced Swee-thult, was born and raised in the Cowichan Valley.

After spending some time as a former First Nations police officer in Alberta, Sxwithul-txw is now pursuing a career in broadcasting and journalism. A huge hockey fan, the Cow High grad is stoked about his new position and is looking forward to hearing from the fans during the games.

He should get a lot of feedback as this year all of the Capitals' away games will be broadcast live on the Internet. Head to the Fan Zone at the Capitals website to find out how you can tune in.

With the Capitals support staff now shored up, all that's left to do between now and the start of the regular season is to finalize the final roster.

"The Island Cup is really going to decide the fate of ... probably we're mostly looking at the forward position," said Robinson. "Maybe one or two guys on defence and four or five guys winning or losing spots at the Island Cup. We think we're ahead of the game in as far as where we have been in the past. We've gone over some systems. We've done work on some varying things and we're trying to get ready earlier to try and be prepared for that league opener."

The Caps open their season on the road Sept. 10 in Powell River against the Kings.