Inside the Surrey Eagles’ high-stakes bet on David Rutherford to rebuild a fallen champion

The Surrey Eagles are turning over a new leaf behind the bench. After just one season, Brian Passmore was let go as head coach and general manager, making way for former Eagles player David Rutherford to take the reins of the front office and bench operations.

Rutherford inherits a rebuilding squad that finished at the bottom of the BCHL standings last season, enduring a challenging 2025-26 campaign with an 8-40-6-0 record.

Bringing familiar support to the staff, Anthony Ast joins the team as an associate coach. A veteran of the Western Hockey League, Ast spent his major junior career skating for both the Vancouver Giants and the Medicine Hat Tigers.

While this piece will profile the new faces leading the flock, it’s essential first to examine the whirlwind of three coaching changes in as many seasons that brought Surrey to this point.

Three coaches in three seasons

Back in 2023-24, Cam Keith held the dual role during a historic championship run. That season culminated in a thrilling Fred Page Cup victory, where the Eagles dethroned the defending champion Penticton Vees.

Following the subsequent Rocky Mountain Cup series against the Brooks Bandits, Keith elected to step down from his position in Surrey. He didn’t stay unattached for long, though, quickly signing on to helm the Cowichan Valley Capitals.

To fill the void for the 2024-25 campaign, the Eagles promoted Scott Gomez, who had served as Keith’s assistant during the championship season.

Though it marked his first year running a junior bench, Gomez’s tenure in the front office proved short-lived. Following a first-round playoff exit at the hands of the Alberni Valley Bulldogs, he moved on to take over the United States Hockey League’s Chicago Steel for 2025-26.

Surrey then turned to Passmore to steer the ship for this past season. However, as noted above, management chose to make another change after a lone, challenging year.

Experience behind the bench

Before making the jump to the BCHL, both Rutherford and Ast cut their coaching teeth in minor hockey and the Pacific Junior Hockey League. In 2025-26, the duo ran the show for the White Rock Whalers, where Rutherford served as head coach and director of player personnel, with Ast working right alongside him as associate coach and head scout.

While neither had formal junior hockey bench experience before joining White Rock, both men bring different coaching experiences to the fore. Rutherford has been a head coach in the Cloverdale and Semiahmoo Minor Hockey Associations in various age categories over the last four seasons. He was also an assistant coach for the Valley West U17 AAA Giants of the BC Elite Hockey League in 2024-25.

As for Ast, he was on the bench as an assistant for the Yale Hockey Academy U18 Prep Lions in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League in 2022-23 and the South Alberta Hockey Academy U17 Prep team in 2023-24. While being an assistant for the Whalers last season, Ast also served as an assistant coach with the Semiahoo U18 A2 Tier 2 team.

Both men have extensive playing resumes from their days in major junior and several professional seasons across Europe, with Rutherford boasting the longer playing career.

His junior days included stints with the South Surrey Eagles in the BCHL, plus the Vancouver Giants and Spokane Chiefs in the Western Hockey League. His subsequent professional journey took him to North American stops like North Carolina, Arizona, Florida, Missouri, and California, followed by European runs in Ireland, Hungary, and France.

Ast followed a similar track, playing his junior hockey for the Giants and the Medicine Hat Tigers in the WHL before heading overseas for a three-season stint with German-based teams.

Under Rutherford and Ast’s guidance in 2025-26, the Whalers surged to a first-place finish in the PJHL’s Harold Brittain Conference, posting a dominant 34-4-2-4 regular-season record. It was a massive leap forward from the club’s 2024-25 performance, which saw it finish at 29-14-5-0.

In a remarkably short window, they transformed White Rock into an elite PJHL powerhouse, ultimately finishing second in the regular-season league standings, just behind the Richmond Sockeyes, before capturing the conference playoff title.

Needed coaching stability

It is no secret that Surrey has lacked consistency behind the bench of late. The last anchor for the franchise was Keith, who provided steady leadership throughout his five-year tenure from 2019 to 2024.

Despite their relatively short coaching track records, this double-hiring promises to breathe new life into the Eagles. Their immediate, tangible success with White Rock speaks volumes about their capability.

Historically, there is a well-travelled pipeline of coaches migrating from the Junior B ranks to the BCHL. Although the PJHL was technically a Junior A league last season – and has been for a couple of seasons – the move to the BCHL is undoubtedly a step up. A prime example is former Victoria Grizzlies bench boss Craig Didmon.

Before making the jump, Didmon built his reputation as the head coach and general manager of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League’s Victoria Cougars. He joined the BCHL’s Grizzlies as an assistant in 2007, eventually assuming the head coaching mantle in 2014 and leading the program until 2022.

If history is any indication, Rutherford has the background and community ties to bring that elusive long-term stability back to South Surrey Arena. Fans will get their first look at how this new chapter unfolds when the regular season kicks off in late September.

Photo credit: Garrett James Photography