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Hartley Miller's Slap Shots - October 28th Edition

By Hartley Miller

Unless you are his friend, his relative, or possibly frequent his store, you likely have never heard of Dean Nazaruk, and that's just the way he prefers it. 

Nazaruk earns his bread and butter during the day as an Assistant Store Manager, at Save-On-Foods in College Heights. During some evenings, and weekends, his work life takes a different twist, as one of just two advance scouts for the Vancouver Giants. 

Like many Canadian boys, Nazaruk spent his youth pursuing his dream of playing pro hockey. In 1986, he was a goalie with Juan De Fuca of the BCHL, and the following season he played with Williams Lake of the PCJHL. Shortly after this, he realized his competitive playing days were over, but he wanted to stay in the game. 

At the tender age of 21, he was hired as an Assistant Coach with the BCHL's Nanaimo Clippers and served under Bill Bestwick for the 1989-90 season and former PG resident Ian Ramsey for another. 

The Clippers then promoted Nazaruk to General Manager in the 1991-92 season which earned him the distinction as the youngest GM in the league. At the conclusion of his two year term, he reluctantly left the Clippers to pursue a career with Overwaitea (now Save On Foods). 

In 1993-94, Nazaruk scouted for the Tri-City Americans then dropped out of hockey for seven years until 2001. 

Shortly after transferring to Prince George, Nazaruk was called by the Vancouver Giants and was offered a position as team scout. Naturally, he jumped at the opportunity. 

As an Advance Scout, he compiles notes on opposing players. For instance, the 37-year-old Nazaruk had this to say on Lethbridge Hurricanes centre Zach Boychuk (16), who played at the CN Centre earlier this month: “Small young kid, good puck skills and handles the puck well in traffic”. 

In addition, he has other duties. Nazaruk says, “My job is to identify the systems that WHL teams play, identify the trends and report to the coaching staff”. He adds, “I try to catch every WHL game in Prince George. I tend to report on teams we are going to be playing within a two-week window”. It takes him about 2 ½ hours to write up his game report, which he e-mails the next day to Giants Head Coach Don Hay, who, in turn, challenges Nazaruk on his information, making sure every last detail is correct. 

As for a scouting report on one of the Cougars, Nazaruk just laughed and said, “that is our hockey club's information”. He did, however, offer a comment on the Cougars as a team, suggesting he notices under Mike Vandekamp the club has a better work ethic, and “they are working for each other and not as individuals”. 

Nazaruk receives a small honorarium for his work with the Giants but there are “perks” such as having dinner with the legendary Gordie Howe.
Dean Nazaruk is a husband, a father of three, a store Assistant Manager and a hockey scout. He admits he's living the good Canadian life, and with no fan fare, which is all the better. 


? A one man show: In Pennsylvania, a high school running back rushed for 488 yards, scoring six touchdowns. To boot (no pun intended), he also kicked eight extra points.

? Headline at fark.com, after Toronto Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin suffered that eye injury on opening night. That's Sundin, with one 'i.'

? From Jerry Greene of the Orlando Sentinel: “The NBA is going to have a stricter dress code for its athletes, demanding a jacket, collared shirt and dress pants. Electronic ankle bracelets are optional.”

? The following sign was noted by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel during a recent Green Bay Packers home game: "Wedding, 25K. House, 250K. Divorce, 30K. Ex-husband's front-row Packers tickets: Priceless."

And, how is your week?

--Hartley Miller is the sports director for radio stations 94X and the Wolf@97FM. He also writes for the PG Free Press, and is author of You Don't Say (Andrews-McMeel, 2005).

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