PADDOCK NAMED DUB COACH OF THE YEAR
The Regina Pats Senior VP of Hockey Operations and Head Coach John Paddock is the Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy Award winner as the WHL’s Coach of the Year. The announcement was made during the Western Hockey League’s annual awards luncheon earlier today in Calgary, AB. Paddock was up against the Kelowna Rockets Head Coach Dan Lambert.
“Winning this is very humbling with all of the fine coaches in the league, and the fact this is voted on by my peers,” said Pats Head Coach John Paddock. “A special thank you to all of the staff, I would not be here without their support. I also want to thank our ownership group who provided me this opportunity.”
Coach Paddock is the third Pats coach to be named Coach of the Year since the award’s inception in 1969. The previous Pats winners were Bob Lowes (2001-02) and Earl Ingarfield (1971-72). Lowes went on to be named the CHL Coach of the Year.
The Oak River, MB native was hired by the team August 6, 2014 and guided the Pats to a 37-24-5-6 record. The 2014-15 regular season was Paddock’s first in junior hockey since he played for the Brandon Wheat Kings in 1973-74.
“This is a great honour for John and we could not be more proud of not only the on-ice success, but also John’s impact on our players,” said Pats President Todd Lumbard. “His attitude and philosophy is not just about developing talented hockey players, but leaders off the ice.”
Pats defenceman Colby Williams was also honoured at the luncheon as an Eastern Conference Second Team All-Star. The Regina native led Pats blue-liners with 41 points (11G, 30A) and finished second in the WHL with a +45 plus/minus rating. Williams was originally named an all-star March 24, 2014.
Yay I can't agree with this decision! Danny Lambert should of won this award "hands down". He was a rookie coach that lead his team to the second best record in the WHL. Paddock has coached in the NHL & sure his team did well in his first season as a junior coach but you got to give it to the rookie coach who has had zero experience as a head coach at any level. Oh well at least Lambert is on his way up the ladder not down like Paddock!!
Ahhhh…..Danny Lambert walked into a power-house team that added at the deadline. Even Obama could have coached that team to the WHL finals. John Paddock has been building his team from week to week and even decided to "sell" at the deadline but didn't miss a beat. Pats should take a bit of a step back next year as they'll be the youngest team in the league (3rd youngest this year), but i suspect will get better throughout the season and then be dominant in the 16/17 year and 17/18 year.
Sour grapes g.k ….the Pats team was gutted by the planned trades and John & his Coaches still took them into the 2nd round of the playoff and, if not for a few unlucky bounces in the OT games, may have taken Brandon to the brink of elimination. Paddock deserved it hands down.