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(Image credit: CFJC Today/File photo).
By Aaron Schulze
Hay is Back

Don Hay returns to Kamloops as associate coach

Aug 2, 2022 | 11:25 AM

A familiar face is back behind the Kamloops Blazers’ bench.

In a news release Tuesday (Aug. 2) morning, the Blazers announced they’ve hired Don Hay as an associate coach ahead of the 2022-23 Western Hockey League (WHL) season.

Hay, a Kamloops local, began his coaching career with the Blazers in 1985-86. He is the winningest coach in WHL history with 750 careers wins, four Memorial Cups – including three with the Blazers – and seven WHL championships as a head or assistant coach.

Following the Blazers’ 1995 Memorial Cup win, Hay served in various coaching roles with the Anaheim Ducks, Calgary Flames, and Tri-City Americans in the NHL, the Utah Grizzlies in the American Hockey League, and the Vancouver Giants and Tri-City Americans in the WHL. Hay returned to the Blazers as head coach in 2014-15 before departing following the 2017-18 WHL season. He spent the previous four seasons as an assistant and associate coach with the Portland Winterhawks.

Additionally, the Blazers announced they’ve extended the contract of Shaun Clouston, the team’s general manager and head coach. Clouston has been the Blazers’ head coach since 2019-20 and took over as general manager in 2021-22.

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A news conference featuring Clouston and Hay will be held Tuesday morning from Sandman Centre.

by Aaron Schulze
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