Sunday, March 27, 2011

Canucks Honour Don Phelps and Announce Reorganization

Press Release

The Calgary Canucks would like to officially announce the retirement of Don Phelps as Coach of the Canucks. Phelps volunteered his time for 24 AJHL seasons with the Canucks, coaching over 1,400 games, winning over 775 games, 11 AJHL Championships, and the 1995 Centennial Cup as the Canadian National Champions. Former Canuck players, directors, parents and volunteers sincerely thank Don for his extraordinary efforts over the past 24 years and wish him all the best in the future.

The Canucks will be honouring Don Phelps at their annual year-end banquet on April 30th at the Red and White Club at McMahon Stadium. In addition to celebrating the retirement of Phelps, the team will have former Flame and Stanley Cup winner Colin Patterson as the guest speaker. There are still tickets available for this event, please contact Kyle Edwards at kedwards@themezzfund.com for more information.

Taking over as Head Coach and General Manager will be Canucks alumnus and Assistant Coach Ryan Barrett. Barrett played for the Canucks during the 1992/93 and 1993/94 season and has been the Assistant Coach with the team for the past two seasons. Joining Barrett in hockey operations will be former NHL player Mark Astley and Craig Mohr as assistant coaches, Kevin Bathurst as Video Coach, D.J. Alook as Strength and Conditioning Coach and John Belanger as Director of Scouting.

In addition, the Calgary Canucks have welcomed several Canucks alumni onto the Board, which we hope will bring new energy and ideas to our organization. We thank the outgoing directors for their years of service with the Canucks, in particular Bob Clarke and Bob Ennis. The team is also actively recruiting additional volunteers to join the Board, for more information on this please contact Kyle Edwards at kedwards@themezzfund.com.

The new generation of coaches and directors are already preparing for next year, which includes the Calgary Canucks Mini-Camp being held April 22nd to April 24th at the East Calgary Twin Arenas. This three day evaluation camp for prospective Canuck players will feature two different age groups, with each player skating with other players their age. For information on the evaluation camp please contact John Belanger at (403) 660-0210 or johncb@telusplanet.net.

(Nathan can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)

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