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Photo: Grande Prairie Storm
By Shane Clausing
bomersback returns as GM

Bomersback returns to Storm as new General Manager

Apr 4, 2022 | 11:04 AM

This story has been updated from its original version

The Grande Prairie Storm organization is bringing back a familiar face.

On Monday morning the Storm announced Mark Bomersback will return to Grande Prairie for his second stint as the club’s General Manager.

Bomersback takes over from Mike Vandekamp after two seasons in the chair and behind the bench. Bomersback served as the club’s G.M. from 2017-20. He and the Storm decided to part ways following the end of the 2019-20 season.

Over his three seasons as Storm General Manager, Bomersback compiled a record of 76-88-14.

Bomersback tells EverythingGP he is eager to get back into the general manager chair.

“I kept in touch with the board and Murray (Toews) quite a bit. It was a rough couple of years (with COVID) and I got the call seeing if I was interested in coming back for an interview and taking a look at the job. I talked with Murray and a few people on the board and here we are,” he explained.

“For me it’s exciting. I’ve missed this part of the game for the last couple of years and it’s exciting to get back to work and try to bring a championship team here to GP.”

While out of hockey for the past two seasons, Bomersback says he stayed in the game of hockey as best he could.

The Storm says Bomersback has an eye for talent as he’s scouted and helped develop NCAA division one commitment Zach Okabe along with standout players Ethan Strang and Nathanial Bierd.

He says he wants to build a fast and competitive team for this upcoming season.

“I think if you look at the NHL level and the top teams in Junior A, they’re fast skating teams that move the puck. If you can’t keep up, you’re in trouble. The rough style of hockey is kind of going away and everyone can skate nowadays and you got to be able to keep up.”

“Expect to have a fast team, especially on the back end, and have the skilled forwards that could skate and put the puck in the net. Fast and skilled,” Bomersback added.

Bomersback’s first job as G.M. will be to find a new coach to replace Vandekamp. He mentions that so far, there has been a good amount of interest in the job.

“We’re already getting emails and texts from people. It could be a while, it could be quick, you obviously want to find the right guy you can succeed with,” Bomersback said.

“There’s no rush in doing that. We’ll sit down and interview guys, I know the board has interviewed some before I took the G.M. job and we’ll proceed from there.”

With Storm spring camp happening at the end of the month, Bomersback mentioned he would like to have someone in place before that camp.

The Storm will be hoping to improve on a season that saw them finish with a record of 22-30-8.

by Shane Clausing