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team that goes to the NAHC( National Aboriginal Hockey Championship) every year. I said,‘ Sure, I’ ll look into it.’
Good thing he did. He not not only went after the job, but since 2013, he’ s built one of the most impressive teams at the NAHC. Last spring, he guided Manitoba to its second gold medal in NAHC history. He’ s now won bronze and gold, back-to-back.
However, last year’ s gold was a bit of a 2017 doublewhammy. While he was coaching Team Manitoba back in 2016, a few of the players on that team played for the
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Peguis Juniors. The Juniors were looking for a coach and one day, almost out of the blue, he got a call from Bruce Sinclair, the GM in Peguis.
“ They asked me if I’ d be interested in coaching and I said I didn’ t think I’ d have time and wasn’ t interested,” he admitted.“ Then they called me the next day and I finally said,‘ OK, let’ s meet.’ So I drove out to Peguis to meet with them and we tossed back a few ideas. One of the ideas I had was an idea I didn’ t think they’ d go for, but to my surprise they decided to go for it and
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in the end, we went on and won the championship.”
A divorced father of three, Kevin is raising three kids by himself. He’ s been working at Manitoba Hydro for 12 years and does his coaching on the side. That is, he coaches when he finds the time between his responsibilities at work and his responsibilities to three active youngsters.
“ My son, Kevin Jr., is nine and he’ s a player,” said Kevin with a laugh.“ My oldest daughter played ringette and my youngest daughter played ringette and hockey. We’ re always busy.”
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If you spend any time with Monkman, the first thing you’ ll pick up on is the fact he’ s quiet and forthright. Those are character traits that make up his approach to coaching.
“ My philosophy is pretty simple when it comes to my players – work hard, be committed and compete every night,” he said.“ I’ m a pretty calm coach. Maybe in my younger years I was a bit of a yeller, but I don’ t yell much anymore. I’ m pretty laid back.”
Yep. Laid back and very, very successful. ❍
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NOVEMBER 2017 | GAME ON | 79 |