RELEASE 20050625
RELEASE #2005-06-25 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2006
ERIC THURSTON NAMED CANADA WEST HOCKEY COACH-OF-THE-YEAR
Eric Thurston, head coach of the University of Alberta Golden Bears, has been named the Canada West Hockey Coach-of-the-Year for 2005-06.
In his first season as head coach of the Golden Bears after serving the last 11 as an assistant coach, Thurston becomes only the third coach in conference history to be named Coach-of-the-Year in his first season behind the bench. Thurston, who became the 21st head coach in Golden Bears history on August 22, 2005 following the departure of Rob Daum to the professional ranks as head coach of the Houston Aeros of the American Hockey League, joins Dave King (U of Saskatchewan, 1979-80) and Mike Babcock (U of Lethbridge, 1993-94) as the only three conference coaches to earn the honor in their freshmen season.
Thurston has guided Alberta to an overall record of 27-8-2 (.757) and first place in both the Canada West Hockey combined and Mountain Division standings with a 21-5-2 (.786) mark, finishing six points in front of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies, who claimed first place in the Great Plains Division standings with a 17-7-4 record. It marks the sixth consecutive season (2000-01 to 2005-06) and the seventh time in the last eight seasons dating back to 1998-99, that the Golden Bears have secured top place in the conference standings.
With the 21 wins, Alberta is one of only three teams in Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) to finish with 20-or-more victories during the conference schedule. The Golden Bears tied the University of Western Ontario Mustangs (21-2-1) for the most conference wins in the CIS and were joined by the McGill University Redmen, who registered the most wins in school history with a 20-1-3 record. It marks the eighth consecutive season, and the 20th time in Alberta history, that the Golden Bears have won 20-or-more conference games in a season.
Thurston has had the Golden Bears ranked in the CIS Hockey Top Ten for all 16 weeks of the national rankings to date this season, never falling below third and holding the number one ranking for five weeks.
Thurston becomes the fourth Golden Bears coach to earn Canada West Hockey Coach-of-the-Year honours, joining Rob Daum, Clare Drake and Bill Moores. Daum won the award a record five times, including four consectutive from 2000-01 to 2003-04, while both Drake and Moores each claimed the honor four times.
The Canada West Hockey Freshman-of-the-Year in 1985-86, Thurston helped lead Alberta to the CIS University Cup national championship that season, scoring 20-30-52 in 53 games and was named to the University Cup all-tournament team.
The 1986 championship is one of four University Cup titles that Thurston has won with the Golden Bears as he also earned national championships with Alberta as an assistant coach in 1999, 2000 and 2005.
After the 1985-86 season, the 42-year-old native of Edmonton played and coached in Europe for eight seasons with stops in Germany, Italy and Switzerland. He returned to Alberta in 1994-95 as an assistant coach under Peter Esdale and then served as Rob Daum’s number one assistant from 1995-96 to 2004-05. During his 11 seasons as an assistant coach, the Golden Bears won three CIS University Cups and six Canada West Hockey conference championships, including the last five from 2000-01 to 2004-05.
Thurston edged out another rookie bench boss in the voting for the award conducted by the seven Canada West Hockey coaches. Thurston beat out Blaine Sautner of the University of Regina Cougars by a single point in the voting, earning eight points from three first place votes and two second place votes. Sautner, who guided the Cougars to a 10-16-2 record and a third place finish in the Great Plains Division, received three first place votes and one second place vote.
CANADA WEST HOCKEY COACH OF THE YEAR
1979-80 Dave King, Saskatchewan 1993-94 Mike Babcock, Lethbridge
1980-81 George Kingston, Calgary 1994-95 Mike Coflin, UBC
1981-82 No Selection 1995-96 Mike Sirant, Manitoba
1982-83 No Selection 1996-97 Tim Bothwell, Calgary
1983-84 Bill Moores, Alberta 1997-98 Dave Adolph, Saskatchewan
1984-85 Clare Drake, Alberta 1998-99 Rob Daum, Alberta
1985-86 George Kingson, Calgary 1999-00 Dave Adolph, Saskatchewan
1986-87 Clare Drake, Alberta 2000-01 Rob Daum, Alberta
1987-88 Clare Drake, Alberta 2001-02 Rob Daum, Alberta
1988-89 Clare Drake, Alberta 2002-03 Rob Daum, Alberta
1989-90 Bill Moores, Alberta 2003-04 Rob Daum, Alberta
1990-91 Bill Moores, Alberta 2004-05 Mike Sirant, Manitoba
1991-92 Bill Liskowich, Regina 2005-06 Eric Thurston, Alberta
1992-93 Bill Moores, Alberta
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Steve Knowles
Canada West Hockey Statistician
#202, 14919 – 51 Avenue
Edmonton, AB T6H 4X8
Phone: 780-438-3514
Fax: 780-431-2464
Email: steveknowles@telusplanet.net
