Luke Pierce

Luke Pierce was announced as the fifth head coach in franchise history on July 25, 2022.

He previously served as an Assistant Coach with the Oil Kings from 2018 to 2022.

In his four seasons behind the Edmonton bench as an assistant coach, he helped guide the club to a record of 154-46-13-10, four straight Central Division Championships and the 2022 WHL Championship while overseeing the team’s defence and penalty kill unit.  During his tenure, the Oil Kings have finished in the top-10 in penalty killing each season and had the best penalty kill during both the 2019-20 and 2021-22 season.

He originally joined the organization after working as assistant coach for Canada’s Paralympic Sledge Hockey Team, capturing silver at the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games. Pierce also served as an assistant coach for Team Canada Red at the 2017 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, helping guide the team to a second-place finish.

Prior to his roles with Hockey Canada, Pierce spent two seasons (2015-17) as head coach of the Kootenay ICE (WHL) and more than five years as head coach and general manager of the BCHL’s Merritt Centennials.

As a player, the Merritt, BC native played in 161 games with the Centennials and Vernon Vipers. He closed out his playing career spending five seasons with the Royal Military College (U SPORTS) in Kingston, ON.

Away from the rink, Pierce has taken on many philanthropical endeavors, most notably serving as Vice President and Chairman for Hockey Gives Blood since 2018.  Hockey Gives Blood is a non-profit society that has partnered with Canadian Blood Services in an effort to engage and educate the hockey community about the importance of blood and stem cell donation.