It was all part of his plan.

When Dean Brockman moved on from the Humboldt Broncos and joined the Saskatoon Blades as an assistant coach under LeRoy's Bob Woods he thought one day he would have the chance to take over the club.

Thursday he did as Woods will return to the National Hockey League and join the Buffalo Sabres.

Brockman was introduced Thursday afternoon in Saskatoon.

"It feels great, obviously it's a privilege to be in this position, I don't know if it's fully sunk in yet," he said after a media conference in the Blades dressing room. "I'm really looking forward to working with our group and looking forward to working with the Blades organization."

The Blades brain trust has planned for this day since both Woods and Brockman's arrivals, something the St. Benedict product appreciated hearing.

"It's great to hear those things but now it's time to prove it. For me it's all about association with our players, we're going to do this thing together. It's not about me today, it's about our players, they have to take the next step with me, I believe they will, I feel confident in all their abilities."

Brockman and Woods were together for a pair of seasons with the Western League club. He believes Woods lessons came across loud and clear and he is ready for the takeover.

"For all coaches I think they will tell you learning is the key to every man's success. I've learned a lot and sometimes you learn things you like to do and sometimes you learn things that you don't want to do. I think Bob is a great teacher and a great leader, I was fortunate to have two years with him."

During the conference the Blades allowed Woods to speak and say his goodbyes to the organization. But after stints in Washington and Anaheim, he was ready to get back in the NHL.

"This is a new opportunity, it's kind of a new challenge. You're going to learn a new system, you're going to learn new players, you've got to go out there and learn new terminology so it's going to be a process but I am excited about it. I think there is a lot of great things happening in Buffalo."

Rumours were rampant that Woods would move on and join Bruce Boudreau with the Minnesota Wild after his former NHL boss made the move to the hockey state. Woods didn't get dejected however, he still had the Sabres on his radar.

"We're a development league, we're developing players, we're developing trainers, we're developing coaches, management, that's what this is all about. Everybody wants to get to the NHL, the NHL is the best league in the world. Would I have left for just any job? No, it had to make sense. Minnesota definitely had my interest and Buffalo was the other one."

Woods was also pleased with the Blades' choice as his replacement.

"When they made the decision to go with Dean, I thought that was a great decision. He's a guy that's won, he's won national championships, he's worked with kids this age for his entire career, he's very qualified."

Brockman was with the Broncos for 17 years before finally getting a chance at the higher level. He will work under newly named General Manager Colin Priestner and Assosciate GM Steve Hildebrand.

You can hear more from Brockman and Woods below in their media scrums.