Patrick, Ahokas, & MacDougall named finalists for the CHL’s 2024-25 Brian Kilrea Coach of the Year Award
Head coaches James Patrick of the Victoria Royals (WHL), Jussi Ahokas of the Kitchener Rangers (OHL), and Gardiner MacDougall of the Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL) have been named nominees for the CHL’s Brian Kilrea Coach of the Year Award, which is presented annually to the Canadian Hockey League’s top coach.
Named in recognition of former Ottawa 67s head coach and the CHL’s all-time winningest coach, the Brian Kilrea Coach of the Year Award is presented annually to one of the winners of the CHL’s Member League coaching honours: the OHL’s Matt Leyden Trophy, the QMJHL’s Ron-Lapointe Trophy, and the WHL’s Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy.
The 2025 recipient will be announced and presented with the trophy at the CHL Awards ceremony on Friday, June 13, in downtown Toronto.
Over the years, the CHL’s Brian Kilrea Coach of the Year Award has been won by many great coaches including Alain Vigneault (Hull Olympiques), Ken Hitchcock (Kamloops Blazers), Brian Kilrea (Ottawa 67’s), Peter DeBoer (Plymouth Whalers), Dale Hunter (London Knights), Gerard Gallant (Saint John Sea Dogs), Sheldon Keefe (Soo Greyhounds), Andre Tourigny (Ottawa 67’s) and most recently Jean-François Grégoire (Baie-Comeau Drakkar).
WHL Nominee – James Patrick (Victoria Royals)
40-17-4-7, 91 PTS, 272 GF & 218 GA during the 2024-25 season
In his first full season behind the bench, head coach James Patrick guided the Victoria Royals to a 40-17-4-7 record and the club’s second B.C. Division title in franchise history. Ultimately, the Royals were one of only five WHL teams to surpass the 90-point mark during the 2024–25 season, underscoring their consistency and competitiveness throughout the year.
Victoria finished the season with the WHL’s second-best road record (23-8-2-1), ranked fourth in goals scored (272), and operated the league’s second-most efficient power play at 28.6%. The Royals also maintained discipline throughout the campaign, finishing as the third least-penalized team in the WHL with just 668 penalty minutes.
By earning the Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy as the WHL Coach of the Year in 2024-25, Patrick has now been a recipient of this award on two occasions. Patrick previously earned the Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy in 2022 after guiding the then-Winnipeg ICE to the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy as WHL regular-season champions. He became just the second coach in Royals history to be named WHL Coach of the Year, and only the 14th in WHL history to win the honour more than once.
OHL Nominee – Jussi Ahokas (Kitchener Rangers)
47-15-4-2, 100 PTS, 254 GF & 183 GA during the 2024-25 season
In just his second season behind the bench in the OHL, head coach Jussi Ahokas guided the Kitchener Rangers to their fourth 100-point campaign in franchise history—and their first since 2007–08.
Kitchener exceeded expectations in 2024–25. After starting the season outside the CHL Top-10 Rankings, the Rangers quickly became a fixture, appearing in the rankings for 19 consecutive weeks from November 5 through the end of the regular season. Their 47 wins and 100 points were both the club’s highest totals in 17 years.
The Rangers also excelled defensively, finishing with the OHL’s second-ranked penalty kill (84.8%) and allowing just 183 goals – the second fewest in the OHL – backed by strong goaltending from Jackson Parsons. For his efforts, Ahokas became the first Rangers coach to win the Matt Leyden Trophy as OHL Coach of the Year since Joe McDonnell in 1988–89, joining McDonnell and Tom Barrett (1983–84) as the only Kitchener coaches to ever receive the honour.
Joined on the bench by Associate Coach Jeff Kyrzakos and Assistant Coach Brad Flynn, Jussi Ahokas is the first European Head Coach in OHL history. With his selection as the Matt Leyden Trophy recipient, Ahokas became the first European ever to earn the OHL’s Coach of the Year honours. He also became the first European coach to be nominated for the CHL’s Brian Kilrea Coach of the Year Award.
QMJHL Nominee – Gardiner MacDougall (Moncton Wildcats)
53-9-2-0, 108 PTS, 294 GF & 144 GA during the 2024-25 season
In his first season behind the bench with the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), Gardiner MacDougall guided the team to one of the most impressive campaigns in recent memory in the QMJHL. Posting a 53-9-2-0 record in 2024–25, the Moncton Wildcats finished with a .844 points percentage – eighth-best in QMJHL history and tenth-best in the CHL since 2000 among teams with at least 50 games played.
Central to Moncton’s dominant season was its elite defensive play. The Wildcats allowed a CHL-low 2.25 goals per game, ranking fifth all-time in the QMJHL and among the best in recent CHL history. Their 144 goals against were the second-fewest by any QMJHL team since the league’s inception in 1969–70 and tied for the 11th-fewest in CHL single-season history.
Moncton’s performance earned them the Jean-Rougeau Trophy as QMJHL regular season champions, marking only the second time they’ve achieved the feat in franchise history, and the first since 2005–06. The Wildcats led all CHL teams in 2024–25 in points percentage (.844), goals against (144), goals-against average (2.25), regulation losses (9), goal differential (+150), and penalty kill percentage (86.4%). They also set franchise records in wins (53), points (108), regulation losses, goals against, and points percentage.
By earning the Ron-Lapointe Trophy as the QMJHL’s Coach of the Year, Gardiner MacDougall became just the second bench boss in Wildcats franchise history to receive the honour, joining Danny Flynn, who captured the award in 2008–09.
