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| PRESS RELEASES |
| The Royal Military College of Canada is pleased to introduce Jim Hulton as men's hockey head coach.
A native of the Kingston area, Hulton has served as head coach of the Ontario Hockey League's (OHL) Mississauga Ice Dogs, Belleville Bulls and Kingston Frontenacs. Hulton coached the Bulls for three years and led them to an OHL Eastern Conference Regular Season Championship in the 2001-2002 Season. In 2003 he returned to Kingston to take over the coaching reigns of the Kingston Fronteacs. He also has international coaching experience, most notably as an assistant coach with the Canadian national junior team. In 2002 he led Canada's National Under-18 Team as the head coach to a gold medal at the 2002 Eight Nations Cup. He also served twice as an assistant coach with Canada�s World Junior Squad winning a Gold Medal in 2005 in Bismarck, North Dakota "We are very excited to add a coach with Jim's experience and knowledge to the RMC team", said Darren Cates, Director of Athletics. "As a native of the area, Jim is familiar with the school and is well-known in the local community." The Paladins are coming off a season where they finished in a first-place tie in the OUA Mid East division. Hulton becomes the 18th head coach in the history of RMC hockey. "I am looking forward to being a part of the rich and storied tradition of the Royal Military College and its' hockey program", said Hulton. "I'm very excited at the prospect of working with student-athletes and building on the success of the current hockey program". Hulton played three years in the OHL with the Kitchener Rangers and the Kingston Raiders before playing four years of university hockey at York University from 1989-1993. The RMC men's hockey program opens their season at home on October 13th versus the York Lions. There's no place like home, coach says Claude Scilley Whig-Standard Staff Writer Local News - Friday, August 18, 2006 @ 07:00 Being an unemployed hockey coach, Jim Hulton quickly discovered, means living in a place where time practically stands still. "It's been four months," Hulton said yesterday after he was introduced as the new varsity hockey coach at Royal Military College. "It seems like four years." The 18th coach in the history of the RMC hockey program, Hulton was sacked by the Kingston Frontenacs days after the team was eliminated in the first round of Ontario Hockey League playoffs. Though he was involved in talks with teams in the Ontario and American hockey leagues, ultimately he decided the best opportunity was a three-minute walk from the dock where the boat from his native Wolfe Island lands. "Things happen for a reason," he said, "and I really believe that by waiting we made the best move for all of us, which is not to move at all." The RMC job became vacant last month when Kelly Nobes left to become varsity coach at Wilfrid Laurier University. Hulton said whatever job he took had to be a good fit not only for him, professionally, but for his family. He has a young son and his wife, Kristina, is a program co-ordinator at St. Lawrence College. "It had to be the right thing for our family, whatever the next step was," he said. "It was obvious that I still wanted to coach and I love the OHL and that level, but it's not the be-all and end-all. "There were some concrete opportunities that we passed over because it wasn't the right situation for all of us. It's not just me involved anymore." In fact, Hulton said, going through the interview process elsewhere only served to entrench the belief that he wanted to stay in Kingston. "I work a lot on the gut feel," Hulton said. "Things just didn't feel right. The thing that felt right was to stay here. That kept coming back at us." Though he has spent the last eight seasons coaching in the OHL, Hulton is not entirely unfamiliar with intercollegiate hockey. He played four years with the York Yeomen, 1989 to '93. "It's a level that I have a tremendous amount of respect for," he said. His former coach, Graham Wise, who still coaches at York, was one of many people whose advice Hulton sought regarding the RMC job. "I talked to a number of people, people who went here, people that have coached other sports here," said Hulton, who attended Regiopolis-Notre Dame at the same time as Vic Mendes, the RMC soccer coach. "I talked to a variety of people ... just to make sure it was an educated decision. At the end of the day, we felt it was the perfect opportunity." That level of investigation caught the attention of RMC athletics director Darren Cates. "I was really impressed with how much work he did to prepare for the interview," Cates said. "He really looked into RMC. He seemed knowledgeable and believed in the overall mission of the college." Cates said Hulton's commitment to the community was an important factor, too, since varsity coaching positions at RMC are permanent. "We're trying to be more involved in the community," Cates said. "We want to have our coaches involved in the community because we want the community to support us. He wants to be here. Other people might be looking at it as a stop. He sincerely loves Kingston." Hulton said he's looking forward to working "with a very special group of people. Everything that kept coming back was what a unique place this is," he said. "People that went here, people who coached here, people who coached against them - everyone thought that this institution offered something that was unique, a camaraderie and chemistry that isn't available in a lot of other places, and that intrigued me. "They are highly intelligent kids that are very committed and learn very quickly. A number of coaches said the same thing: from a pure coaching standpoint, you can really challenge yourself. You can try a lot of different things because of the level of intelligence and quick grasp that these kids have." [email protected] |
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