Lethbridge Hurricanes bench boss Brent Kisio was recognized by the home crowd at the Enmax Centre on Saturday.
Kisio brought back a gold medal in his return to the ‘Canes after spending nearly a month with Canada’s under-20 team as an assistant coach.
“There’s a lot of weight there to make sure you do things right and prepare and have the players in the right spot ready to go,” Kisio said.
“But it’s an absolute honour and a privilege to coach for Canada. To win gold and bring it home for your country is always special.”
It’s Kisio’s second international gold medal behind the bench. He was head coach of the under-18 team that won the Ivan Hlinka memorial tournament in 2017.
Featuring ten Western Hockey League players, Kisio coached a number of league foes in Halifax, including Connor Bedard and witnessed the Regina Pats forward’s record-breaking performance.
“Seeing what he can do on the ice, the goals he scored and the numbers he put up only being 17 — you don’t see that very often,” Kisio said. “It was pretty special to see and something I won’t forget being a part of.”
Now the ‘Canes focus remains on the back half of the WHL’s regular season after cheering on their head coach from afar.
“As a team, we’re so proud of him. He’s a great coach,” ‘Canes co-captain Jett Jones said.
“He’s great with all the guys so it’s nice to see all his hard work pay off and to have him back behind the bench. (He’s) a nice calm voice back there to help the guys out.”
The Hurricanes are fighting for a playoff spot and are currently sitting sixth in the Eastern Conference.
Coming off some high-pressure hockey, Kisio is looking to carry lessons from the world junior championship into the stretch run.
“From the coaching staff perspective, just the preparation, how much work goes into it. — there’s a lot of experience you can learn from,” Kisio said.
Kisio hopes that experience will help him guide the Hurricanes into another postseason birth.