The Saskatoon Blades have a new bench boss.
Brennan Sonne was named the team’s 18th head coach on Wednesday morning.
Sonne spent the last four years as the head coach for the Ducs d’Angers of the Ligue Magnes, the top professional league in France.
Blades general manager and president Colin Priestner called it an exciting day for the team and fans.
“From the first conversation I had with Brennan I knew he was the perfect person to take the mantle from Mitch and lead our club to our goal of winning a league championship,” Priestner said in a statement.
Sonne takes over for Mitch Love, who spent three years as the Blades head coach.
Love resigned a week ago when he was hired as head coach of the Stockton Heat. The Heat are the Calgary Flames American Hockey League affiliate.
“I am just extremely grateful, humbled, and honoured for this opportunity,” Sonne said. “It’s truly an honour to be a part of such a high-class organization.”
Priestner said he was looking for a coach who has achieved success through their own path and by thinking outside the box.
“His intelligence, attention to detail, work ethic, and empathy for his players and staff come across instantly when you meet him and I feel every bit as strongly about him as I did about Mitch (Love) three years ago,” Priestner said.
“Even though they are very different personalities, they have come from a similar path of sustained winning and they both believe in team success and accountability for all players above everything else. I can’t wait for him to meet our players and get started.”
Sonne, 34, played 149 games over three seasons in the WHL with the Everett Silvertips and Edmonton Oil Kings.
He then spent three years playing for the University of British Columbia in the CIS and a year overseas with the Hong Kong Tycoons.
Sonne got his start in coaching in 2014 when he joined the Silvertips as an assistant coach. He then joined the Ducs d’Angers in 2017 as the team’s head coach.