Vancouver Giants fire coach Troy Ward

VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Giants announced Wednesday that Troy Ward has been relieved of his duties as head coach of the Western Hockey League team.

Assistant coach Matt Erhart has been named the club’s interim head coach while strength and conditioning coach Ian Gallagher and skills coach Yogi Svejkovsky will serve as assistants.

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“Obviously with where we are in the standings, it just wasn’t working with Troy,” said Giants general manager Scott Bonner. “This is the unfortunate part of sports, but we thought change was needed. We wish Troy all the best in the future.”

The Giants are last in the WHL’s Western Conference with a 9-16-0 record. They’ve won just two of their past 10 games.

This season was Ward’s first as head coach of the Giants. He previously served as head coach of the American Hockey League’s Abbotsford Heat from 2010-2014.

Ward also served as an assistant coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins for three seasons, from 1997-2000.