Citing unacceptable results, the Western Hockey League's Kamloops Blazers have fired their head coach.
The team are one of the top-rated junior hockey teams in the country but have just returned from an Eastern conference road trip where they posted a 1-and-5 record.
The team fell from first to fourth spot in the WHL Western conference on the trip.
In a message on its website, team general manager Craig Bonner said the results under Coach Barry Smith were "unacceptable."
"We will not tolerate being an average team at this stage," Bonner wrote.
"Since I saw little to suggest that the team was trying to make the adjustments necessary to turn our play around, we had little option but to make a change."
Assistant Coach Scott Ferguson will serve as interim head coach.
With files from The Canadian Press
