Desjardins a finalist for coach of the year, GM of the year

By James Tubb on April 8, 2026.

NEWS FILE PHOTO Medicine Hat Tigers head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins has been nominated for the WHL’s coach of the year and executive of the year award, announced Tuesday.

Last time Willie Desjardins checked, there’s no ‘I’ in the word ‘award.’

On Tuesday, the Western Hockey League announced the six finalists for the Lloyd Sanders Memorial trophy for executive of the year and the finalists for the Dunc McCallum Memorial trophy for coach of the year.

The Medicine Hat Tigers head coach and general manager was one of the six finalists for both awards, a nomination that has become almost ritual for the franchise’s winningest coach.

With the 2025-26 nominations, Desjardins has been a finalist for executive of the year in three of the past four seasons and he has been a finalist for coach of the year for four straight years.

It’s a testament to his staff and players, Desjardins says.

“Those recognize the team and where we’re at,” Desjardins said. “The GM part shows they thought we made good moves, well you make good moves because guys play hard. We had lots of guys who work hard and do a great job and that’s a credit to them.

“The coach, that’s our specialty teams who carried us this year. I don’t have a lot to do with that, so I can’t take any credit and they were the big factors this year. So they’re awards, but they’re team awards.”

Desjardins previously won the WHL and CHL coach of the year in 2005-06, he says the nominations are an honour and thanks his wife Rhonda for the support throughout the season.

“There’s so many good coaches in our league and good GMs, like really good people, so for people to think that you’ve done a good job, it’s great,” Desjardins said. “When you look at our year, guys are surprised when we lost all those guys, that we still had a good year. That credit goes to your players and the other coaches, it’s them believing in the program.”

Finalists for both awards were voted by WHL GMs. The Tigers general manager was one of three Eastern conference nominees, joined by Prince Albert Raiders executive Curtis Hunt and Calgary Hitmen executive Garry Davidson. Mike Fraser (Everett Silvertips), Fred Harbinson (Penticton Vees) and Bruce Hamilton (Kelowna Rockets) are the Western Conference finalists.

Forward Dayton Reschny was signed by the Tigers in the offseason, a training camp invitee brought in after an offseason of change for the defending WHL Champions. He says Desjardins deserves the recognition for both awards.

“He’s helped me out so much, I’m super grateful to him for giving me a chance to play in the Western Hockey League, especially as a 19-year-old,” Reschny said.

Losing Gavin McKenna, Ryder Ritchie and Cayden Lindstrom to the NCAA, Desjardins and his staff recruited key U.S.-born players including Noah Davidson, Gavin Kor, Kade Stengrim and Carter Casey, also drafting Yaroslav Bryzgalov in the CHL Import Draft.

On the coaching side, the other two Eastern Conference finalists are Ryan McDonald (Prince Albert) and Dustin Friesen (Calgary) and the three Western Conference finalists are Steve Hamilton (Everett), Mark Lamb (Prince George Cougars) and Fred Harbinson (Penticton).

Desjardins, who sits seventh all time in coaching wins with 573 and is third all time in career playoff wins with 88, led the

Tigers to a second straight Central Division title, reaching 50 wins for the fifth time in team history. The Tigers are the first defending champion to reach the playoffs since the 2019-20 Raiders.