It is with great pleasure to announce that Ken Guthrie, Ben Van Lare and Travis Deaust are the successful incumbents for the role of Director of Player and Coach Development (DPCD).

Ben (Associate DPCD) will be responsible for Bulldogs/Wildcats C Division and Rep from Atom to Juvenile. Travis (Associate DPCD) will be responsible for Junior Bulldogs/Wildcats to Initiation Major. Ken will be overseeing the overall management and operations of player and coach development framework.

The reason for a team of DPCD as opposed to a single individual as done in the past is threefold:

  1. More focus and resources applied to each age group
  2. A collaborative approach to player and coach development
  3. Allows for DPCD to continue to coach a team – “quality assurance” of framework design and execution in support of continuous program improvement

Ken is no stranger to the association as he has been with BMHA as both a player and coach for over 22 years. Ken is a recipient of BMHA’s Coach of the Year – Rep award numerous times. As well, his MA1 teams have competed in the Final Four of the BC Provincial Championships for the last two years.

Ben has been our PA1 coach for the past few years. His hockey experience include playing in the WHL with the Saskatoon Blades and Prince Albert Raiders, the USHL with the Des Moines Buccaneers, and the NAHL with Texas Tornado. He rounded out his hockey-playing career with the CIS starting with Dalhousie University before finding his passion for the West Coast – ending with SFU. Ben is our “Canadianized” US import and we are glad he decided to stay!

Travis has been coaching hockey at various levels since 2001 and won many championships doing so. In addition, he held scouting positions with Burnaby Express and with Penticton Vees Jr. A Hockey Club as their Director of Scouting.

Be sure to say Hi to them when you see them around the rinks!

Posted in Coaching, General