Former Prairie Hockey Academy U18 Prep head coach Dustin Friesen has been named Head Coach of the Calgary Hitmen in the WHL.
Friesen joins the Hitmen after spending the 2024/25 season as an Associate Coach in the QMJHL with the Moncton Wildcats.
In 2020/21 Friesen took the reigns as head coach of the Prairie U17 Prep team and Director of Conditioning. He would take over the U18 Prep team the next season, holding that role until the conclusion of the 2023/24 season. Prairie’s U18 Prep team would finish 11W-23L-2OTL in their first season under Friesen. But the Waldheim, SK product would turn things around going 19-11-3 in 2022/23 and 18-10-2 in 2023/24, making the CSSHL Western Championship playoffs both seasons.
Friesen joined Prairie after a playing career that saw him play 258 games in the WHL with the Swift Current Broncos, 137 U SPORTS games with the University of New Brunswick, three seasons in the AHL and ECHL, capped off by 8 seasons and over 400 professional games in Germany.
