The Canadian Sport School Hockey League (CSSHL) is excited to announce the three winners of the Coach of the Month Award for October: FX Girard, Kris Hogg, and Rick McConnell.
For the 2024/25 season the CSSHL is proud to introduce the Coach of the Month Award for the three different CSSHL divisions: Eastern, West Female, and West Male.
This award is aimed at recognizing the incredible coaches within the CSSHL and acknowledges their hard work, dedication, commitment, leadership and impact on the game both on and off the ice.
We would like to congratulate these three coaches, who were all nominated by their programs, for their hard work in the month of October.
East Division – FX Girard, Bourget College:
“As a Bourget College alum and former NCAA student-athlete, FX is incredible leader for student-athletes. He is a great assistant bench-boss, giving a ton to student-athletes on and off the ice. He serves as the programs Strength Coach with a Kinesiology background. FX always making decisions that best benefit individuals and has a great support mechanism and amazing coaching potential.”
West Female Division – Kris Hogg, RINK Hockey Academy Kelowna:
“Kris recently joined NCAA program Clarkson University as an assistant coach, after leading RHA Kelowna to an undefeated start to the 2024/25 season. During his eight year coaching career in the CSSHL he has accomplished the following:
- 106 players graduated to play College Hockey
- 5 CSSHL Western Championships, including 3 straight
- 1 Gold Medal at Winter Games team BC
- 1 Western Canadian National Championship
- 2 Stoney Creek Titles
- Calgary Firestarter Tournament Champion
- 164-14-7 CSSHL regular season record
- +861 goal differential”
West Male Division – Rick McConnell, Pilot Mound Hockey Academy:
“Rick is the staple of the PMHA coaching staff. Rick’s open-door policy has allowed his players to gain trust and build strong habits to start the season. Rick’s communication with his team has set them up for success this season, allowing players to feel comfortable and accepting that mistakes will happen and that learning from them is of the utmost importance. Rick’s practice style is high-paced with strong competition in a positive atmosphere. Rick strongly encourages his student-athletes to participate in community events, including cleaning the arena, volunteering with Pilot Mound Minor Hockey, and helping with the Learn to Skate program with Rock Lake Figure Skating. Coach Rick is PMHA’s coach mentor and has spent many hours to start the season to get everybody on the same page within the PMHA program. Rick is the go-to person on staff, and PMHA appreciates the extra effort that he puts into the program to get the academy involved with the local community.”
