Alexander takes home league coach of the year nod

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – Following a six win, 12 point improvement in the standings over last season the North West Junior Hockey League has recognized the Fort St. John Huskies for their accomplishments over the regular season. After finishing in fourth place in the league standings the NWJHL announced on Friday that head coach Gary Alexander was the league’s coach of the year.

Alexander was modest in talking about the award as he gave credit to assistant coaches Todd Alexander and Andrew Riddell for their contributions to the club.

“It’s an honour certainly. It deserves to go to Todd and Rids. They’ve done all the work out there on the ice with the practices this winter. I just oversee the operation to make sure that they don’t make mistakes with cards. My end is the discipline part. It’s been a really enjoyable year working with both of them because they’re pretty knowledgeable in the new game,” he said.

His first stint as coach with the Huskies came in 2002, but he stepped away from the team for a brief period while the Senior Flyers were pursuing their Allan Cup aspirations given his long history with the club.

During his absence the organization would see its spot among the league’s elite slip. After his time with the Flyers, he and son Todd both took spots behind the bench in hopes of again challenging for league championships.

“When Todd was done he thought we should have a go at doing it together so here we are. We expected to turn it around a little better in shorter time but it’s been quite a hard, long battle,” Gary said.

Overall Alexander has been with the club for ten seasons.