THUNDER BAY, Ont. – The Superior International Junior Hockey League announced Tuesday that Robert DeGagne of the Thunder Bay North Stars has been named its Coach of the Year for the 2019-20 season.
He earned the laurels over fellow nominees Geoff Walker of the Red Lake Miners and Wilson Housley of the Thief River Falls Norskies, in voting completed by the league’s member teams.
The Thunder Bay native led the North Stars to the SIJHL’s regular season title with a league-best 34-16-4-0 record.
Completing his third year at the helm behind the Stars’ bench, DeGagne boasts a 121-32-9-3 mark in that span and includes a Bill Salonen Cup championship in 2018-19, along with a pair of regular season crowns.
This is the second time in three seasons DeGagne has earned this honour, becoming only the fourth person in SIJHL history to be a multi-time recipient of the accolades.
He joins Wayne Strachan (5); Todd Howarth (4) and Rod Aldoff (2) on this list.
With the honour, DeGagne also becomes the SIJHL’s nominee for the Canadian Junior Hockey League’s Darcy Haugan/Mark Cross Memorial Award, emblematic of CJHL Coach of the Year.
The following is the list of the SIJHL’s all-time coach of the year award recipients:
2019-20: Robert DeGagne, Thunder Bay North Stars
2018-19: Derek Sweet-Coulter, Red Lake Miners
2017-18: Robert DeGagne, Thunder Bay North Stars
2016-17: Kurt Walsten, Dryden GM Ice Dogs
2015-16: Wayne Strachan, Fort Frances Lakers
2014-15: Jeremy Adduono, Thunder Bay North Stars
2013-14: Wayne Strachan, Fort Frances Lakers
2012-13: Chris Walby, Minnesota Iron Rangers (Co-recipient)
2012-13: Rod Aldoff, Minnesota Wilderness (Co-recipient)
2011-12: Rod Aldoff, Wisconsin Wilderness
2010-11: Wayne Strachan, Fort Frances Lakers
2009-10: Clint Mylymok, Dryden Ice Dogs
2008-09: Todd Howarth, Fort William North Stars
2007-08: Wayne Strachan, Fort Frances Jr. Sabres
2006-07: Randy Lulashnyk, Dryden Ice Dogs (Co-recipient)
2006-07: Todd Howarth, Fort William North Stars (Co-recipient)
2005-06: Bobby Spadoni, Schreiber Diesels
2004-05: Todd Howarth, Fort William North Stars
2003-04: Todd Howarth, Fort William North Stars
2002-03: David Vescio, Thunder Bay Bulldogs
2001-02: Wayne Strachan, Borderland Thunder
Photo credit: Leith Dunick, tbnewswatch.com