Blades head coach DaSilva named finalist for WHL Coach of the Year
Saskatoon, SK – The Western Hockey League (WHL) announced today Saskatoon Blades head coach Dan DaSilva is an Eastern Conference finalist for the Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy as WHL Coach of the Year for the 2024-25 season.
In his first season as head coach of the Blades, DaSilva led one of the youngest rosters in the league to 37-win campaign and 82 points, finishing sixth place in the Eastern Conference and third in the East Division. Saskatoon was one win away from a second consecutive East Division banner and made the playoffs for a sixth consecutive season. The Blades’ average age of the roster was 17.9 to end the regular season.
The Blades tied as the eighth-stingiest team in the league with 218 goals against and boasted the fifth-best powerplay (26.4%).
Saskatoon took a team-first approach with four skaters surpassing 20 goals, including 2025 WHL Rookie of the Year nominee Cooper Williams, who finished second on the team in points with 57 (21G, 36A). Da Silva also successfully integrated 2025 WHL Trade Deadline acquisition Hunter Laing into the lineup to pace the team with 25 tallies.
On the blueline, Captain Ben Saunderson and veteran Grayden Siepmann posted career-best seasons with Siepmann hitting 48 points (10G, 38A) and Saunderson posting 36 points (4G, 32A).
Star netminder Evan Gardner also impressed with an increased workload and earned an NHL contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Saskatoon was the league’s least-penalized team with 550 penalty minutes in 68 games.
DaSilva is in his fourth season with the team after serving as an assistant coach from 2021-2023 and an associate coach for 2023-24 under former head coach Brennan Sonne. This is the third straight season a Blades head coach has been nominated for the Dunc McCallum Trophy, as Brennna Sonne won the award in the 2022-23 season and was nominated again last year.
