Blazers choose not to renew contract for associate coach Hay

Photo: KTW file

Don Hay will not return next season as associate coach of the Kamloops Blazers.

The Kamloops Blazers are once again parting ways with the Western Hockey League's all-time winningest coach.

Don Hay will not be back behind the Blazers’ bench as an associate coach for the 2025-26 WHL season. The club said it opted not to renew the 71-year-old's contract.

Hay, a former Kamloops Fire Rescue firefighter, started his coaching career as an assistant with his hometown Blazers in 1985. He stayed in that role until 1992, when he was promoted to head coach.

He stayed with the club until 1995, winning two Memorial Cups as head coach and another as an assistant. Hay also coached for Calgary, Phoenix and Anaheim in the NHL, for Utah in the AHL and spent 10 seasons at the helm of the Vancouver Giants, where he won a fourth Memorial Cup in 2007.

Hay returned to Kamloops to serve as head coach between 2014 and 2018, then returned as associate coach in 2022.

“I feel very fortunate to have been welcomed back to the Kamloops Blazers and spend the last three seasons with the hockey club,” Hay said.

“Kamloops is a special place for myself and my family. I’ve enjoyed working with the players, the hockey and business staff and wish them all the best moving forward.”

Hay is the WHL’s all-time winningest head coach, with 752 wins under his belt,

“We are grateful that we had the opportunity to have Don on our coaching staff over the past three seasons,” Blazers general manager and head coach Shaun Clouston said in a news release.

“Don’s work ethic and relentless commitment to developing players will be a lasting legacy through the Kamloops Blazers organization.”