ROYALS COMPLETE COACHING & HOCKEY OPS STAFF

Press Release

Victoria, BC – The Victoria Royals are pleased to announce that they have added Enio (EN-yo) Sacilotto (Sach-i-LAH-toe), Ben Cooper and Craig Didmon to their coaching staff for the 2011-12 season.

Sacilotto has 21 years of coaching experience with his most recent as an assistant coach with the Chilliwack Bruins last season. The 53-year-old will now join the former Bruins franchise in Victoria for his second season with the team.

“We are very happy to welcome back Enio into the fold for this season,” General Manager and Head Coach Marc Habscheid said. “He has a plethora of experience that he will bring to the arena every day. From a continuity standpoint this is large for both the players and myself to have someone we have worked with previously.”

The Vancouver, BC native’s coaching exploits have taken him around world. He has been a head coach for 20 seasons including stops in professional leagues in Switzerland, Italy, Norway, Denmark and England.

Sacilotto has previously spent time in the junior ranks as a head coach and general manager in the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) with the Penticton Vees for three seasons, and one year in Croatia coaching their U-20 and U-18 teams.

Cooper joins Victoria as one of the team’s Assistant Coaches, and will be on the bench for all Royals games. He arrives from Calgary after serving as Hockey Canada’s Manager of Men’s National Team Video, and as an Assistant Coach with the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) Trojans of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) last season.

“Ben is a young guy with a lot of experience doing video work for Hockey Canada at the Olympics and world juniors,” General Manager and Head Coach Marc Habscheid said. “He wants to get into coaching full time after gaining a lot of practical experience behind the bench and running practices at SAIT. We’re excited to have him join our staff.”

Cooper, a Vancouver, BC native, was named Hockey Canada’s Manager of Men’s National Team Video in September of 2008. His experience with Hockey Canada includes three years as Video Coach for the National Junior Team, two years as the Ivan Hlinka U-18 Memorial Tournament team Video Coach as well as the Video Coach for the 2009 World Championship Men’s Team. He served as Video Manager of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics Gold Medal Winning Canadian Men’s team.

The 33 year-old began his coaching resume in Toronto in 2005, when he became the Video Coach for the Toronto Marlies of the AHL. Prior to that, he began his career in hockey with the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks, where he worked in Corporate Sales and Media Relations.

Didmon joins the Royals’ coaching staff to provide support at all home practices and home games. He spent the 2010 -11 season as Head Coach of the South Island Thunderbirds Major Midget team, where he lead the Victoria based squad to a 17-15-8 record in the BC Major Midget League regular season.

“Craig is well known in local hockey circles and has enjoyed success at every level he’s coached at,” Habscheid said. “His passion for the game of hockey and the development of young hockey players is evident in his past work. We are excited to add these traits to our staff.”

From 2002-2007, Didmon served as Head Coach and General Manager of the Victoria Cougars of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League (VIJHL), where he compiled a record of 152-58-24 over five seasons, highlighted by the 2006-07 season that saw the Cougars claim the Division, League and Provincial Championships.

Following his time with the Cougars, Didmon, became Associate Coach of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL)’s Victoria Grizzlies from 2007 – 2009, leading the club to the 2008 - 2009 BCHL Regular Season championship with a record of 43-13-4, and a spot in the league semi-finals.

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Victoria, BC – The Victoria Royals are proud to announce that they have added Jeff Harris and Parry Shockey to their Hockey Operations department.

Harris will assume the role of Director of Hockey Operations and Communications after spending the previous four years as the Assistant General Manager and Director of Media and Community Relations for the ECHL’s Victoria Salmon Kings. He was also the team’s play-by-play voice, and the recipient of the ECHL’s Media Relations Director of the Year award for the 2007-08 season.

“In order to have a great product on the ice, you need the right people working for you off of it,” General Manager and Head Coach Marc Habscheid said. “Jeff is a tireless worker who really understands the ins and outs of running a hockey club.”

A Calgary, Alberta native, Harris has considerable experience in professional sports, working with the Calgary 88’s of the World Basketball League, and in professional baseball with the Pacific Coast League’s Vancouver Canadians.

The 39 year-old got his start in hockey working with the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen as the team’s Assistant Communications Coordinator for the 2006 -07 season. Harris earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Communication from Mount Royal College in Calgary.

Shockey, 57, arrives in Victoria as the Director of WHL and Junior A Scouting after spending 2010-11 as the Head Coach of the UFA Bisons Midget AAA Hockey Club of the Alberta Midget Hockey League (AMHL) in Strathmore, AB. Shockey led the Bisons to a record of 18-10-6 and a spot in the Division Finals, where they lost out to eventual league champions the Red Deer Optimist Rebels.

“Parry is a great hockey mind with a good eye for talent and character,” Habscheid said. “He has several years of head coaching experience in the WHL and will be a great asset and resource to our club moving forward.”

Shockey began his career in the WHL as an Assistant Coach with the Spokane Chiefs under current Detroit Red Wings Head Coach Mike Babcock from 1994 through to 1996. In his final year with the club, Shockey helped the team to a record of 50-18-4 and a berth in the WHL Championship

The Taber, AB native then moved on to become Head Coach of the Lethbridge Hurricanes for the 1996-1997 season, followed by a two year stint as the bench boss of the Regina Pats from 1997 to 1999. Most recently, he assumed the position of Head Coach with the Moose Jaw Warriors in 2004-05, where the team went 14-47-10, losing out in the first round of the playoffs.

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