Norm Johnston stays on as AAA Stars coach
The AAA Stars made a coaching change right before last season began. Then made another one in the final month of the regular season, when they let Jean Fauchon go and brought in Norm Johnston for the final eight games.
Although they missed the playoffs, the Stars liked what they saw with Johnston and have decided to stick with him moving forward, after naming him head coach for the 2017-18 season on Tuesday.
“We liked a lot of things that [Johnston] did, even though it didn’t show up directly as wins,” AAA Stars governor Bruce Yockey said in a phone interview on Wednesday, referring to the team’s 1-7 record under Johnston in February. “Our discipline came in check, our shots against came in check and he was trying to put a lot of things in place in a short period of time. So we felt he didn’t really get a fair shake to probably do all the things he’d like to do throughout the season. He was really playing catch up.”
Johnston was one of roughly 15 candidates who applied.