After a summer full of anticipation, Brian Drumm is glad to get his career as head coach for the Port Hope Predators underway.

The long time coach of the Cobourg Cougars took the job this summer, and hockey fans in Northumberland have been waiting to see how the change would unfold. The Predators wrapped up their exhibition season with a record of 3-4, but Drumm is eager for the real challenge to begin.

“I don’t dwell too much on exhibition games, because they don’t matter,” said the new head coach. “It’s been a good camp. We’ve been on the ice almost every day.”

The Predators have been a little short staffed for their exhibition games, with a number of their veteran players off at Ontario Hockey League (OHL) training camps. But even if OHL teams nab some of his talent, Drumm will be prepared.

“The kids have come in good condition, and the new kids are getting opportunities to play,” he said.

Drumm knew that his move to Port Hope would stir up some controversy thanks to his past with the Cougars. The two teams have long shared a heated rivalary and Drumm’s new alliegence is sure to add a new element to the fued. But his role in Port Hope is about the future, not the past.

“It’s a good change for myself,” he said. “It’s a different rink, a different organization. There are changes to how you shape the team. There are a lot of plusses.”

Though he is happy with his new role in Port Hope, he holds no animosity towards his former team. “They’re both good organizations. You’re playing for two points no matter who you play.”

The team will have to collect a lot of points to succeed this year. Drumm is well aware that the team has gone through a number of coaches in recent years, and knows the pressure is on to provide a winner. “They want to win,” said Drumm of the team’s owners, Sandy Smith and Rod Finney. “They brought me in to try and push them to another level. There isn’t the patience to ‘wait and see’.”

Even with the pressure on, Drumm is confident in the skaters currently wearing the Predators uniform, and the season can’t come soon enough. “We’ve got some very good people in place,” he said.

“We’re ready to play some hockey.”