The Calgary Canucks Junior “A” Hockey Club are pleased to announce that Colin Birkas has been named Head Coach of the Canucks for the 2017-2018 Alberta Junior Hockey League season.
Colin spent four seasons (2011-2015) behind the bench of the Kingston Voyageurs of the OJHL where he coached his team to multiple conference finals and a league final. He spent the 2016-2017 season with the Brockville Braves of the CCHL. In his five years of coaching Junior “A” he holds a record of 201-124-19 and has a Conference Championship under his belt.
Bob Loucks, VP of Hockey Operations, commented that the Canucks “are thrilled to be able to get an experienced coach the calibre of Colin to join our team. Colin has 5 years’ experience coaching at the Jr “A” level and has been to the conference finals 4 times, winning 1 conference championship in the OJHL. Colin has an excellent record as a top-notch evaluator of talent and recruiter, which has led to his graduating over 70 athletes onto NCAA scholarships, CIS schools and Major Junior “A”. Colin’s communication skills, leadership style and winning attitude will continue to establish the Canucks as a consistently competitive team in the AJHL.”
Colin will be making the journey across the prairies from Kingston, Ontario to join the Canucks organization. “I have always wanted to coach Junior “A” in Western Canada. After my trip to Calgary to interview and tour the facility, it really feels like the perfect fit and opportunity for me. I am joining late in the off-season, but after meeting the group including President and GM Pat Loyer, I feel confident that a lot of the foundation has been laid for me to come in and have success immediately,” Colin says about his recent visit to Calgary. “I would like to thank RMC Men's Hockey and most specifically Richard Lim (a Canucks alumni) for the support and assistance provided for me to obtain the head coaching job with the Calgary Canucks. I'm anxious to meet the players and rest of the staff and Board and get to work!”
With the beginning of the hockey season just around the corner, the Calgary Canucks are looking forward to continuing the success of our 2016-2017 season with Colin Birkas on the bench.
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