When Justin Lacasse graduated in 2011, it seemed improbable that he ‘d ever be on the ice again as a Duck. He had moved to Washington for work and, while playing, never thought coaching was for him.
But things change.
Work brought Lacasse back to Oregon in 2012, and the rink in Eugene was holding a tournament. It was during this tournament that he found himself back with Rich Salahor, a coach from Lacasse’s senior year. While the two were playing together, Salahor brought up the idea of coaching.
Salahor wasn’t the only one who wanted Lacasse back on the team.
“We all wanted him to come back and coach,” senior Connor McBride, who played with Lacasse, said. “His personality is great for coaching. He’s dominant.”
Even though Lacasse’s response to Salahor was an easy yes, Lacasse found that coaching wasn’t all that simple.
“It’s a lot more time consuming and there’s a lot more energy involved in it than I anticipated,” he said. “I thought it was just all kinds of fun and games, but there’s actually a lot of work that goes into it.”
Most of the hard work wasn’t even planning out practices or drawing up game plans. The hardest part for him was maintaining his cool and staying professional.
“It’s hard to keep your emotions bottled up when you’re playing teams with players that you used to play against — like UW,” Lacasse said. “There are a couple guys on UW who I don’t really like too much from playing against them. It’s hard to separate that from coaching versus playing because you still kind of hate some people out there.”
Transitions had to be made in more places than just the bench. As he was getting used to the games, he had to get used to stepping away from the team and stepping into the role of a coach.
“These guys are your friends still a little bit, ” he said. “It will be way easier next year when I know the guys, but they’re not guys I used to hang out with. It’s tough to separate professionalism and friendship stuff.”
Even though Lacasse found the switch difficult, his old teammates who are still on the roster thought otherwise.
“He’s definitely someone who commands respect right off the bat from you,” senior Will Daniels, Lacasse’s former linemate, said.
“You have your coach that you listen to and you also have this kid who’s like one of you,” he said. “But he’s a superior and he knows what’s up because he’s played there, he’s been there, he’s done that and you’ve seen it personally. It’s just nice.”
Even after a year, the team found hasn’t found Lacasse’s switch to be an issue.
“Lacasse is Lacasse,” McBride said. “If he wants to do the coach thing, then he’ll do it and he‘ll do it. If Lacasse wants me to do something, I’ll do it also because I respect him as a friend.”
Follow Anne Yilmaz on Twitter @anneyilmaz
[Originally published here by the Daily Emerald on November 15, 2013]