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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 |