Desjardins added to Canada West’s Hall

By Medicine Hat News on February 8, 2020.

He may be best known in the Gas City for his work behind the bench, but on Friday Willie Desjardins was honoured for his efforts on the ice with an induction to the Canada West Hall of Fame.

The Medicine Hat Tigers head coach and general manager spent his younger years competing with the University of Saskatchewan – where he captained the Huskies to their first national title in 1983 as the University Cup tournament’s most valuable player.

That season was the third year in a row that Desjardins won the Canada West title with the Huskies, as well as the fourth time he took home an all-star nod and the first time he was named MVP of Canada West.

The 62-year-old Climax, Sask. product’s successes at the university level didn’t stop there. Desjardins went on to take a coaching role at the University of Calgary, where he logged a 113-44-11 conference record behind the bench and took home the Canada West title in 1990.

Desjardins went on to win coaching championships with the Tigers in 2004 and 2007 before clinching the American Hockey League’s Calder Cup with the Texas Stars in 2014. Desjardins also earned coach of the year honours at both levels – winning the WHL’s Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy as well as the CHL’s Brian Kilrea Coach of the Year Award in 2006 and the AHL’s Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award in 2013.

He went on to coach in the National Hockey League with the Vancouver Canucks and Los Angeles Kings, and served as head coach of Team Canada’s bronze medal-winning squad at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in South Korea. In that time, Desjardins also started up the South Alberta Hockey Academy in Dunmore.

He’s now back behind the bench of the Tigers, sporting a 33-15-2-1 record in the club’s 50th season.