SFU adds former Burnaby Express head coach Dave McLellan to coaching staff

The Simon Fraser University Men’s Ice Hockey program is pleased to announce the addition of former BCHL head coach Dave McLellan to the team’s coaching staff for the upcoming 2010/11 season British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League season.

McLellan joins SFU following five seasons with the British Columbia Hockey League’s Burnaby Express, including the last three years as the team’s Head Coach. His experiences with the Express included a National Championship as an assistant coach in 2006 when Kyle Turris helped lead the club to an RBC Cup victory. At SFU, McLellan will work primarily with the team’s defencemen.

“Dave has a great deal of experience and success coaching at a high level of junior hockey,” says SFU general manager Jeff Dubois. ”He’s familiar with a number of our players from his time with the Express and it’s going to be a tremendous benefit having him on board with our program this season.”

Previously, McLellan spent 10 summers in Japan from 1999 through 2008 working in player development with the Nippon Paper Cranes, a professional team in the Asian League. He was hired and worked alongside former NHL coach Dave King during the he decade spent overseas.

“It was a really neat opportunity,” says McLellan, who also spent time with the Japanese national team. “To meet a guy [like Dave King] with that much experience and take over a program that was already entrenched, I learned a lot. From a technical level, it was great to learn how to work with a pro athlete, and he certainly gave some good guidance.”

McLellan is well-known around the Lower Mainland for his work in player development at the minor hockey level. He owns and runs his own hockey school called “Top Shelf Hockey.” With his wealth of hockey knowledge and experience, he’s hoping to help the program win back-to-back league titles for the first time.

McLellan will see his first action behind the bench when SFU faces his former team, now the Coquitlam Express, in an exhibition game on Friday night at the new Coquitlam Sports Centre. Faceoff is set for 7:00 PM.