The St. Albert Steel bolstered their coaching staff with the additions of Wes Werhun and Donovan Sugiyama.
They will serve as the team’s assistant coaches for the upcoming Alberta Junior Hockey League campaign. Both have strong ties to the St. Albert Raiders Hockey Club.
“We‘re very excited to welcome Wes and Donovan to the team,” said Greg Parks, the Steel’s head coach and general manager. “We look forward to adding their talent and having a great 2011/12 season.”
Werhun guided the St. Albert Crusaders to the midget AA provincial championship in 2009 as the tournament’s host team.
A number of his players went on to play in the AJHL, specifically with the Fort McMurray Oil Barons.
Werhun is also the St. Albert Saints’ former all-time penalty minute leader.
He later served as the Saints’ player development coach for three years before the team moved to Spruce Grove.
His most recent coaching stint was with the junior B St. Albert Merchants this past winter.
Sugiyama coached the St. Albert Blues to the 2011 midget AA provincial final and a fifth and deciding game in the Northern Alberta Midget AA Hockey League final.
His playing background includes stints in the AJHL with the Sherwood Park Crusaders and the British Columbia Junior Hockey League.
Werhun and Sugiyama are the latest in a long line of Steel assistant coaches since the Fort Saskatchewan Traders moved to St. Albert for the 2007/08 season.
In the Steel’s four-year history with Parks as the bench boss they have never advanced past the first round and are 3-12 in the playoffs. They were swept by Fort McMurray the past two seasons.
