OLDS — The Olds Grizzlys have a new head coach, just a day after announcing that former head coach Scott Atkinson had stepped down, but would contribute to the team in an advisory capacity.
The new head coach is Peter Schaefer.
Schaefer played more than 500 games in the NHL with the Vancouver Canucks, Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins.
He won a gold medal winner in the World Junior Hockey Championship as a member of Team Canada.
In the WHL, while with the Brandon Wheat Kings, he was named MVP.
Schaefer has also served as GM, head coach and assistant coach of the BCHL’s the Surrey Eagles, who won the league championship in the 2012-13 season.
“I’m excited to bring my playing and coaching experiences to the Grizzlys organization and look forward to putting together a good team with a great culture both on and off the ice,” Schaefer is quoted as saying in a news release posted to the Grizzlys web site in May 31.
“My vision is to have a team that plays hard, fast, and for each other, for the Grizzlys organization and for the community that supports us, and to develop players that can reach the next level.”
Schaefer will be there when the Grizzlys start training camp August 23.
On May 30, the Grizzlys not only announced that Atkinson was relinquishing his head coaching role and serving as an advisor to the team, but also that the Grizzlys would not be renewing the contract of assistant coach Kyle Finch.
Atkinson joined the club in January, 2020. The club finished that season with a 10-41-0-5-2 record in 58 games. His most successful season with the club was 2022-23 when they posted a 16-39-0-4-1 record in 60 games. Last season, the Grizzlys’ record stood at 10-41-0-3-3.
He has had some tremendous seasons as a coach. From 1992 to 2001, the Mount Royal Cougars teams he coached won the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) championship five times and in 1993, he was named ACAC coach of the year.
