Storm coach up for CJHL Coach of the Year

May 9, 2025 | 3:29 PM

Grande Prairie Storm head coach Chris Schmidt is one of the six nominees for CJHL Coach of the Year.

Schmidt says it is an honour to be up for any award.

“It’s been a good year. A lot of good kids. They’ve worked hard and they’ve kind of bought into what we’re trying to do here.”

“That always makes it enjoyable as a coach if you’ve got kids that are highly motivated and willing to learn and willing to sacrifice a bit of themselves for the team and that’s kind of what we’ve had.”

Schmidt joked that “first year, maybe the people voting weren’t tired of me yet” when asked why he thought he earned the nomination.”

“I just try with my guys and our team and our staff (to be) honest and work hard and hopefully get guys working towards a common goal. The guys did a good job this year of buying into that”

Schmidt hopes when the guys look back on this year, they think that it “was an enjoyable year for the players as well.”

The award is named for head coach Darcy Haugan and assistant coach Mark Cross, both of whom died in the Humboldt Broncos bus crash. Haugan coached the North Peace Navigators of the Northwest Junior Hockey League before moving on to the Broncos.

by Curtis Galbraith