Harvey Roy leans back in the chair and eases away from the desk. It is an unfamiliar and perhaps uncomfortable spot for Roy, who in a 23 year playing and coaching career in hockey was accustomed to being close to the ice.
His health and a demanding business forbid coaching anymore but Roy, who as much as anyone is responsible for bringing back major Junior Hockey to Kamloops, is satisfied with playing his new role as Blazers Business Manager.
"I've always liked working with the players. I miss the coaching but on the other hand, the way I look at it, it's a young man's game," said Roy, who is 43 and was appointed President of the Kamloops Oilers for two seasons when Edmonton of the National Hockey League controlled majority interest in the team.
The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat are not as prevalent in an office as they are in an arena but Roy is maintaining an aggressive attitude in the boardroom. "My role as Business Manager is basically all the business dealings of the club, advertising, season ticket sales, promotions, etc.," said Roy.
"The number one priority is we're going to move players around the community a lot more than has ever been done in the past, and we're also going to promote more games than we've done in the past," said Roy.
Roy, who fired the franchise's first coach, Lyle Moffat, last coached in the B.C. Junior Hockey League when a team called the Rockets blazed through a turbulent stay in Kamloops. In 1980, Roy and Craig Sturgeon coached the city's Bantam rep team to the B.C. Championships. Roy's final fling in Tier One was a three year stint as Coach and General Manager of Kamloops Chiefs, who eventually packed their bags and moved to Seattle, where they became the Breakers. Roy, who was Coach under General Manager Jack Tenant in 1975, recalls the times as if they happened yesterday. One of the players Roy most liked was center Darrell Ferner who still holds some of the Chiefs' scoring records.
"I really respected him as a captain because he was probably one of the smallest captains I had but he had more guts, intestinal fortitude, than anyone I ever laid my eyes on," said Roy.