When the Brandon Wheat Kings have questions for their coaches about how to get to the next level, they’ll be talking to voices of experience on every front.
After hiring former NHLer Ryan White to join their staff as an assistant coach last week, the Wheat Kings have announced the hiring of Aaron Rome as their second assistant coach. Rome had most recently been the head coach of the U17 AAA Wheat Kings, leading them to their first championship in franchise history.
“It feels good and I’m really excited to get started,” Rome said. “The staff that they’ve hired and the staff that they’ve carried over, I’m pretty familiar with them. I’m really looking forward to working with them.”
Rome already knows White from their playing days, and played a brief stint with Marty Murray on the Manitoba Moose. And Rome’s own playing career was extensive, featuring over 200 games in the NHL and over 300 more in the AHL.
“Not only myself but Whitey and Marty can help the kids with trying to climb levels, which is what they’re all trying to do,” said Rome. “We’ve had experience doing it even though it was a little while ago. I’m looking forward to being able to help them on their path.”
During his playing days, Rome was a defenseman with a definite edge to his game, hard working and hard to play against. He’ll have plenty of veterans to work with on the Wheat Kings blueline, but also a number of rookies as well, something that’s exciting for him as a coach.
“This will be new to them, a couple of them played games last year so they’ll have some experience from those couple of games,” he said. “With a new staff, they’ll be looking to get going right out of the start of camp. I’m just looking forward to getting to know the kids and building relationship.”
Rome and White have something in common besides NHL careers and new coaching jobs with the Wheat Kings. During his career, Rome, like White, was no fun to play against and brought a workmanlike approach to every shift.
“The game has changed a fair amount since I played, but you want ultra-competitive kids and you want them to produce that shift in and shift out,” said Rome. “That will help them climb levels, and it ultimately helps your team have success too.”
Rome has gotten more familiar with the changes to the game and the players who play it thanks to his time coaching. He was an assistant coach with the Wheat Kings in 2016-17 and a skills coach for them after that, then coached the U17 AAA team to a championship last year.
“The big thing is, depending on your roster size, you have 20 to 23 individuals, everyone has a different personality, and they all need to be coached a little bit differently,” he said. “The big thing for me, and I know the other coaches as well, will be getting to know those players personally and building that relationship and trust. The coaching happens from there.”
In that, Rome can draw on not only his own coaching experience, but his experience as a player, during which he had coaches from Brad McCrimmon to Ken Hitchcock to Alain Vigneault.
“You take a little bit from every coach you’ve had, whether it’s the junior level, the minor pro level, or the highest level,” said Rome. “There are things I took from coaches I played minor hockey for as well. You try to take a little bit from everyone, and for us it will be a day-by-day thing trying to instill some of those values in the kids.”
