RBC Centre - The Sarnia Sting may have found the lost piece to the puzzle, as the Sting announced Tuesday afternoon the hiring of former London Knights assistant coach, Jacques Beaulieu as the new head coach and general manager for the Sarnia Sting. 

"I never thought I'd see black, gold and white colours," Beaulieu said, "especially with the rivalry between Sarnia and London."

Beaulieu was the assistant coach of the London Knights from 2002-2006 and again from 2009-2011. Between the two stints as assistant coach with London he held the head coaching and general managers role for the Saint John Sea Dogs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, and was awarded with general manager of the year honours in 2007-2008, leading the Seas Gods to a 41-22-0-7 record.

Though he was let go of his duties in Saint John, the effects of his efforts are being noticed today, as 12 players drafted or traded by Beaulieu are now currently members of the Sea Dogs who had a 58-7-1-2 record in the regular season, and were the number one team in the CHL for most of the season.

But Beaulieu has his work cut out for him here in Sarnia, but the new coach insists this is a day by day operation, and there is no timeline for success.

"I'm not going to sit here and tell you I have a three year plan, a two year plan or a one year plan. To me it's a daily plan to be successful on a daily basis. We are trying to put the best team on the ice, and the job starts this afternoon. We are going to try to recruit some players."

Beaulieu addressed the concern with the Sting defence, a group that allowed 321 goals last season.

"We are going to have a structured team. I believe in defence. I don't like kids cheating all over the ice."

Beaulieu was the Knights defence coach for 11 seasons and will bring Memorial Cup winning experience to a Sting team that has the fire power to score goals, but has had a tough time stopping them.

"I'm defensive minded as a coach. It doesn't matter who is on the ice, the five guys on the ice I want them to look the same. That's defence first, get the puck out of our own end and allow the kids to be creative."

Due to Beaulieu being under contract with the Knights he was not able to work with the Sting on their draft. But he likes who the Sting selected, and feels there is a lot of depth in the group, including later round picks that he may need to convince to come play in Sarnia.

Now with a new bench boss, the Sting rebuild has a general to lead it forward. One with an attention to detail and a work effort , which Larry Ciccarelli says, is something this organization has never seen. When asked about where Sting were in their rebuild, Ciccarelli echoed Beaulieu's comment that there is no long term plan, but rather a daily plan, and that Beaulieu has the full sport and control of the team.

"He has the luxury of having one of the best budgets in the league and an ownership group that is totally supportive."

In the 17 seasons in Sarnia the Sting have yet to find long term term coach. Beaulieu may finally be the end to the cycle of coaches that have come through the Sting organization, and could bring winning hockey to the city of Sarnia.

"I'm looking forward to developing a real winning tradition here in Sarnia," said Beaulieu. "It's going to be a lot of fun, I plan on being here for a long time, and with the support of the management group, we are going to make some exciting things happen in the city of Sarnia."