EDMONTON - The coaching life, as Ian Herbers knew it, was good.
He had piloted the University of Alberta Golden Bears to their second straight Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship and even opened the door with Hockey Canada, working as an assistant with Canada’s entry in the under-18 world championship.
Herbers certainly wasn’t pursuing other job opportunities. Then the phone started to ring.
The Western Hockey League’s Kelowna Rockets were looking for a head coach after Dan Lambert left to work as an assistant with the Buffalo Sabres.
Todd McLellan, the new head coach of the Edmonton Oilers, called, too.