2023 ACAC Men's Hockey Coach of the Year
Edmonton, AB (March 17, 2023) -
Coach of the Year: Sam Klassen
The Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) is proud to announce Sam Klassen of the Briercrest Clippers has been named the ACAC Men’s Hockey Coach of the Year.
Sam has had an outstanding year in his first season as Head Coach of the Clippers, where he has guided Briercrest to their best ACAC Regular Season record ever, since the program joined the Conference in 1997-98. With that, his team also secured their first-ever ACAC home playoff series as they hosted the ACAC Quarterfinals on March 3-5, 2023.
Klassen’s commitment to developing the program and building on the strong progress the team has made over the last several seasons has been evident. His attention to detail in all aspects of his coaching and leadership have allowed the program to thrive and take another step forward this season. Under his leadership this year, the team finished the highest it ever has in the ACAC regular season standings, and they improved all season long, going 8-4 in the second semester, after being sub-500 in the first half.
Klassen instilled solid defensive play into his team in 2022-23, as they were second in the league in penalty killing percentage, third in the league in goals against, and second in save percentage. The team also set a program record for goals for/against ratio this year.
Klassen has demonstrated that he is not only a fantastic hockey coach, but is a leader who really cares deeply for his players and has a desire to see them grow as men of character and as followers of Jesus, through the unique training ground of competitive college hockey in the Briercrest environment. Having been a part of multiple professional hockey programs as a player, and having been a leader on the ice throughout his playing career, Klassen now leads with professionalism in all he does as a coach and mentor with his Briercrest program. It is no coincidence that the team has continued to thrive forward this year under his leadership.
Briercrest Athletic Director, Stan Peters, talked about Sam’s leadership:
“We are thrilled for Sam to receive this award. He is a transformational coach. We were fortunate to have Sam transition into the men’s head coach position after Brad resigned a year ago. In this transition, Sam has been able to build on the foundation that was in place and bring his passion for his faith, family, developing young men and hockey together.”
Peters continued, “Sam and his assistant coach, Josh, care deeply for each player on the team and they spend time with players off the ice to talk about life. They have focused on building strong relationships, and through this the team has become tighter and stronger – they never quit, they are prepared, they support each other, and they deal with adversity. These are all qualities that reflect Sam’s character.”
This prestigious award will be recognized at the 2023 ACAC Men’s Hockey Championship final in Red Deer, Alberta on Friday March 17th.
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About the ACAC: The ACAC is the governing body for intercollegiate athletics in Alberta. Its mission is to provide competitive collegiate sport experiences, promote academic achievement and be a leader of sport development in Canada.
For more information on the ACAC, please visit our website: www.acac.ab.ca
For additional information, contact:
Mark Kosak, ACAC
Chief Executive Officer
403-875-7329
markk@acac.ab.ca
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