NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB Medicine Hat Tigers head coach Willie Desjardins watches a video celebrating his 500th WHL win ahead of a 3-2, shootout win over the Calgary Hitmen at Co-op Place on Jan. 18. Desjardins has been named head coach of Team CHL for the 2025 CHL USA Prospects Challenge.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Willie Desjardins will be the bench boss for Team CHL at the 2025 CHL USA Prospects Challenge in November.
The CHL announced Thursday morning the Medicine Hat Tigers’ winningest coach will serve as head coach for Team CHL in the second rendition of the two-game challenge between the top NHL Draft eligible CHL prospects and the U.S. National Under-18 Team.
“We have a great league. Whenever you get picked to represent your league and your team, it’s a true honour,” Desjardins told the News.
Joining him behind the bench will be Jay McKee, head coach of the Brantford Bulldogs (OHL) and Sylvain Favreau, head coach of the Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL), who will serve as assistant coaches. Portland Winterhawks president and general manager Mike Johnston will serve as a third assistant coach.
The 2025 CHL USA Prospects Challenge will be hosted Nov. 25 and 26 in Calgary and Lethbridge, respectively. Desjardins will have two familiar faces on the CHL staff. Tigers’ athletic therapist and equipment manger Mikki Lanuk will serve as the CHL’s head athletic therapist.
“Mikki is excellent, he’s the best in the league fully and deserves the opportunity,” Desjardins said. “He’s just seen it all, so it’ll be great with him there.”
Medicine Hat’s video coach Jayce Desjardins will serve as the CHL’s video coach.
“Jayce really does an incredible job, he’s gone to camps with NHL guys, so he’s really good at what he does,” Desjardins said. “It’ll be great to get that opportunity, he’s really great at what he does.”
Desjardins sits 10th all-time in WHL wins with 530. In his 16th WHL season, he has led the Tigers to three league championships, most recently the 2025 Ed Chynoweth Cup, making him one of only three CHL head coaches to capture three or more league titles in the 21st century, just the 13th coach in CHL history to achieve the feat.
The CHL won both games of last year’s Prospects Challenge, Desjardins says there’s pressure to repeat the success.
“We’ve got a great league, they’ll have a good team so there’s always pressure,” Desjardins said. “You want to represent your league well, so there’ll be pressure.”
Three players identified by NHL Central Scouting have already been named to Team CHL, defenceman Ryan Lin (Vancouver Giants, WHL), forward Ryan Roobroeck (Niagara IceDogs, OHL) and defenceman Xavier Villeneuve (Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, QMJHL).
The rest of the CHL roster is expected to be named later this month as chosen by NHL scouts and general manager Yanick Lemay (Drummondville Voltigeurs, QMJHL). The Tigers have a handful of NHL Draft eligible players, headlined by Markus and Liam Ruck, who are eligible for the first time this year.
Tickets for the prospects games are available on the CHL website.
