It’s not the mid-season move you would expect from a team set to host the Memorial Cup, but the Kelowna Rockets have fired their head coach.
The move comes two days after the Rockets blew a 5-1 third period lead en route to an overtime loss against the Calgary Hitmen.
"I am grateful for the opportunity to have coached the Kelowna Rockets," said Foote in a statment.
"It's been an honour to have coached all of the players on the Rockets and to have had an influence on their development."
It wasn't a bad start to the season for Foote and company, but their play since the midway mark of the season has seen the team plummet down the standings.
"The team has struggled since the Christmas break,” said GM Bruce Hamitlon. “With fourteen games remaining in the regular season, I felt a change was necessary at this time.”
Assistant coach Kris Mallette, who has been running the team’s defensive and penalty kill units, will take over as the team’s interim head coach.
At this moment, there’s no word on whether the team is searching for a new coach or if Mallette will be behind the bench for the rest of the year and during the 2020 Memorial Cup in Kelowna.
Hamilton and Mallette will speak to the media this afternoon and KelownaNow will have more details when they become available.
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