Raiders announce Conor Yawney as new Assistant Coach
The Prince Albert Raiders announced on Thursday that there will be a new assistant coach ahead of the 2024-25 season. Conor Yawney will be the newest face behind the bench.
Yawney was a former defenceman in the North American Hockey League (NAHL), and got into coaching in 2022-23 in the U16 and U18 AAA ranks. Last season, he was the assistant coach for the Amarillo Wranglers in the NAHL.
“I’m really excited to make the next step in my career,” Yawney said. “I’m not from the area, but I have family up in Northern Saskatchewan. I know a little bit about Prince Albert, I attended a rookie camp there a number of years ago. I’m familiar with the league, and I’m just excited to make the next step and help these players develop into professional players.”
Yawney wrapped up his pro career in 2018 with the Corpus Christi Ice Rays in the NAHL, where he spent two seasons. He then finished his degree before pursuing his coaching passion.
“Being a coach for the defenceman, a lot of my time was spent reading the rush, getting players to read the play and be in good positions,” Yawney explained. “Those were big things for me, just teaching them and making them aware of where they are in a game; is there five minutes left, 17 minutes left, are you up by one or down by two. That dictates how you handle different scenarios, and those are major things that I try to get them to learn.”
While he doesn’t have a ton of experience behind the bench yet, it’s a similar situation when current assistant coach Ryan McDonald first started with the club.
“What did we see in Ryan when he joined us in the bubble; a young man who is passionate about the game, keen to learn, enough confidence to challenge and make us older guys who have been around better and consider a different thought process,” Hunt said. “I see another young guy like that in Conor.
“I think with Conor coming to a major junior league, he can offer some things he’s seen in the past. When you have a veteran like Jeff Truitt that you work with every day, and you can tap into guys like Mark Odnokon, myself, Terry Lange, Puff, just the community we create back here is good for learning. The common goal to let everybody reach their own personal potential.”
Head Coach Jeff Truitt also added his thoughts on Yawney:
“He’s a young guy with a tremendous work ethic. He knows the game, he’s been around it his whole life. He spent time with the LA Kings as an intern and learned an awful lot there. Here’s a young guy with a lot of experience along the way, and it’s exciting to have him.
“Everything here starts with our culture and starts within our room. He’ll learn that from myself, Ryan, and the players. He’ll learn our style of play as well. He’s familiar with some of the background of our team, but he’ll get more and more familiar with the way we do things. We know that he’s going to bring some ideas on how to develop our game a little bit more. It’s a community effort, but when you have a guy with his foresight and how he knows the game, he’s going to bring a lot to our team.”
The club also announced that Keaton Ellerby will not return next season.
“We thank Keaton for his commitment over the last two years. We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors,” Hunt said.
