The northern New Brunswick club announced this afternoon that head coach Ron Choules has been relieved of his duties. Eric Dubois, the assistant coach, will replace him until the organization finds a new head coach.
A Quebec Major Junior Hockey League press release states that “the Titan will honour its agreement until the end of the season.”
The move is a bit unexpected with the Titan currently having a respectable 10-5-0-0 record. But Bathurst is just 3-2 at the KC Irving Regional Centre and have been outscored 15-22 in the process. They are 7-3 on the road this season.
Bathurst’s home numbers are a bit skewed, however, with the club suffering an ugly 8-1 loss to the Rimouski Oceanic last Sunday. The game was the Oceanic’s fourth in six days. The Titan then fell in the final minutes to the Halifax Mooseheads on Tuesday night at the Halifax Metro Centre.
Choules has no clue why the Titan are playing so poorly at home.
"If I had the answer I'd love to give it to you, but right now we are looking for answers ourselves," Choules said following last Sunday's loss to Rimouski to the Telegraph-Journal. "It is just one of those things I guess. It's unfortunate. I feel like we have to present a good product to our fans and it is unfortunate that these things happen. Can I explain them? I wish I could."
Most pre-season predictions had the Titan finishing the regular season in top five of the QMJHL and near the top of the Maritimes Division.
Titan general manager Sylvain Couturier told Metro Montreal that the team is better than it has showed so far this season.
Choules has been the Titan’s coach since the 2007-08 season after taking over for Denis Francoeur. He led Bathurst to the QMJHL quarter-finals that season where they fell in six games to Saint John.
The Sea Dogs travel to Bathurst tomorrow for their first meeting with the Titan. Saint John will then travel to Halifax for a Saturday night tilt with the Mooseheads. The Dogs will get a look at the Herd’s new coach, Bobby Smith, for the first time.
Photo Credit: YouTube
Long overdue!!!
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