Skip to content

Rick Swan named head coach for Canada West WJAC

Head coach of the Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs Rick Swan is taking the reins on the international stage. Swan was named head coach of Team Canada West for the 2018 World Junior A Challenge (WJAC). The tournament will be hosted in Bonnyville from Dec.
33.sports.rickswan
Head coach of the Pontiacs Jr. A team was named head coach of the Team Canada West team for the 2018 WJAC in Bonnyville this December.

Head coach of the Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs Rick Swan is taking the reins on the international stage.


Swan was named head coach of Team Canada West for the 2018 World Junior A Challenge (WJAC). The tournament will be hosted in Bonnyville from Dec. 9 to 15.


Swan said he felt privileged and honoured to have Hockey Canada come back to Bonnyville, and to be selected as head coach.


“It’s extra special because Bonnyville is the host of the Junior A Challenge this year,” Swan expressed. “I’ve just enjoyed myself and I’ve learned so much being a part of the program.”


This will be his third consecutive year as a member of the coaching staff for Team Canada West. It comes hot on the heels of last year’s gold medal, when he was in the role of assistant coach.


“That was incredibly rewarding, and we won a gold medal, beating the United States 5-1 last year. That was a moment that will stay with me forever, and is one of my top coaching moments to be able to win with an exceptional group of coaches and kids.”


Prior to that, Swan was the team’s video coach in 2016 He would review footage of previous games to determine a strategy for future match-ups. He feels his previous experience with the program was an asset during the interview process.


“I’ve kind of moved my way along and up the ladder to be qualified enough to be able to have the confidence with both Hockey Canada and the Canadian Jr. Hockey League (CJHL) wanting me to lead them this year.”


The next move for Swan is identifying 60 players from across western Canada to participate at a training camp. From there, they will narrow it down to 22 players, who will represent Canada west at the tournament.


“We won the gold medal last year, and we’re always about winning the tournament. The group that comes in this year has a standard to live up to,” Swan said.


Joining Swan on the bench is Joe Martin and Derek Sweet-Coulter, who both won gold with him in 2017, and Brandon West. Jamie McCaig returns to Team Canada West as goaltending coach.


Patrice Bosch will be returning as the coach of Team Canada East for the upcoming tournament. He will have assistant coaches Peter Goulet and Corey Beer on his bench. Darcy Findlay rounds the coaching staff off for the team as video coach.


The president of the CJHL Brent Ladds said in a release, “The coaches selected to lead Team Canada East and Team Canada West demonstrate the level of talent and strength we have in those key leadership and mentorship roles within the CJHL. It’s great to see how most of these coaches began by supporting these teams as selection camp guest coaches, and are now moving forward to joining the tournament staff.”

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks