There have been many coaches who have come and gone in Yellowknife. Some do it for a couple of years, some do it for many years, some have had successful and some havenSA国际影视传媒檛.

And then thereSA国际影视传媒檚 Dan Schofield.

If youSA国际影视传媒檝e played hockey in this town at any point over the past two decades, you will know who Dan Schofield is. There is plenty that can be said about him and everyone whoSA国际影视传媒檚 ever played for him or dealt with him will have their own opinion but this is mine: Dan Schofield is one of the greatest hockey coaches this town has ever seen.

I will tell you why.

Simply put, Dan Schofield is a winner. There are very few sports people in this town who have the resume Schofield has and you can go up and down the list 101 times. Schofield got results, he got trophies, he got banners and chances are when youSA国际影视传媒檙e a young hockey player, thatSA国际影视传媒檚 what youSA国际影视传媒檙e looking for.

The next time youSA国际影视传媒檙e at the Multiplex, go into the Shorty Brown Arena and look up at the banners adorning the rafters. Schofield has had a hand in almost all of them. He took teams around Western Canada and won. He took teams to the western portion of the United States and won. He took teams to Europe and won.

That was SchofieldSA国际影视传媒檚 calling card SA国际影视传媒� his teams were winners and if they didnSA国际影视传媒檛 win, they came close.

ISA国际影视传媒檝e only been around these parts for 16 years and there may have been better minor hockey teams but the best ISA国际影视传媒檝e ever seen SA国际影视传媒� and reported on SA国际影视传媒� was the 2013-14 edition of the Yellowknife Wolfpack peewee development team with Schofield at the helm. This was a team which was loaded with players that would go on to bigger things: Ethan Anstey, Anna MacCara, Annie King, Sam Schofield (his son), Liam Tereposky, Jonah Bevington, Austin Daniels SA国际影视传媒� just a few names that came off of that squad. They laid waste to absolutely everything in their path that season and almost the entire team went on to play down south in some fashion or received tryout offers.

Another team I can recall is the 2010-2011 Yellowknife Wolfpack bantam development team, another Schofield-coached outfit. I very nearly caused a civil war in this town when I suggested that this squad be named Team of the Year by Sport North. Why wouldnSA国际影视传媒檛 they be? That team played a total of 69 games that season with a record of 66 wins, one regulation-time loss and two shootout losses. Find me another minor hockey team in Yellowknife thatSA国际影视传媒檚 had a season like that. To date, no one has.

The Wolfpack development program itself is sort of a brainchild of SchofieldSA国际影视传媒檚. He had a hand in helping bring it to the forefront; Clem Hand was the one who had the idea in the first place. Schofield started up the Great Slave United and Yellowknife United Athletic Clubs to give minor hockey players a chance to play in spring tournaments and head overseas to Europe to play.

Naturally, the SA国际影视传媒減articipation brigadeSA国际影视传媒�, as I like to call them, shrieked at the audacity that someone would want players to have more opportunities and more chances to be scouted and be seen. After all, we kept hearing that scouts never came North, right? Our kids will never get the same chances as those kids down south because we live in the North, right? Remember those conversations? Schofield helped create programs to give those kids something akin to that same chance so naturally, people whined and moaned about it.

And letSA国际影视传媒檚 not forget the clinics he organized through the Polar United Club, his third venture. Again, Schofield went looking for a way to help improve the skills of hockey players in Yellowknife so instead of having parents spend thousands of dollars to send their kids south, why not spend a few hundred and bring the camps North? Again, it made sense so people whined and moaned about it because it was for kids in the club only. HereSA国际影视传媒檚 the catch: the club was open to anyone who wanted to join. All you had to do was pay to join and you were in. Pretty simple, eh?

There is much more you can say about Schofield but you canSA国际影视传媒檛 say it without acknowledging what heSA国际影视传媒檚 done for hockey in this city. You may not have liked his style (though I know I did) but Dan Schofield got the job done more often than not and he is owed a huge debt of gratitude. HeSA国际影视传媒檚 leaving town on May 30 and into retirement so hereSA国际影视传媒檚 hoping you thanked him for all heSA国际影视传媒檚 done before he leaves.

Thanks for everything, Dan, and happy trails.