The Summerland Steam Junior ‘A’ Hockey Club is pleased to announce the appointment of its coaching staff for the 2023/24 KIJHL season. A combination of new and familiar faces will guide their program through their inaugural Junior ‘A’ season, as a young, but talented roster looks to keep pace with the defending champion Princeton Posse in the Bill Ohlhausen Division.
Morten Kjolby will assume the role of Head Coach & General Manager. Kjolby, 33, hails from Denmark and arrives with a decorated coaching resume that includes stops in Denmark, Sweden and Spain at the U18 and U20 levels. A former player, Kjolby spent his entire playing career in Europe before transitioning to coaching and comes to Summerland with a reputation of being a player’s coach with a vast hockey knowledge. Most recently, Kjolby coached the Cold Lake Aeros of the Canadian American Junior Hockey League during the 2022/23 season, leading the organization to 24 wins in 44-games. They finished third in the five-team league.
Kjolby will be joined by former Steam Head Coach John DePourcq, who will join the staff after three years away from the organization. DePourcq, the winningest coach in Steam history, spent seven seasons behind the Summerland bench from 2012 to 2019, amassing over 200 wins in the KIJHL and seven straight playoff appearances.
“We have a very good foundation of individuals with a vast level of knowledge and experience in the hockey world both domestically and internationally,” says Interim General Manager Steve Hogg, “We’re pleased to have added both Morten and John to our program as we make the transition to uncharted territory for the KIJHL. Having John back in the fold with the Steam is massive for both our program and the community. We feel the level of excellence he provided during his tenure as the organization’s Head Coach from 2012-2019 will help the transition to the new coaching staff and to Junior ‘A’ hockey in Summerland in a very impactful way.”
Main Camp for the Steam is set to commence this coming weekend, August 25-27 at the Summerland Arena. The schedule for 2023 Main Camp will go live at summerlandsteam.com on Wednesday, August 23rd.
This afternoon, the Steam announced the addition of former captain Everett Scherger as an Assistant Coach.
Scherger, 25, spent three seasons and over 100 KIJHL games with the Steam from 2016-2019. He served as captain during the 2018/19 KIJHL season, playing with an edge and providing a leadership ability. In his 104 regular season and playoff games, Scherger collected 31 goals and 75 points to go with 263 penalty minutes, helping the Steam to playoff appearances in all three of his seasons.
Scherger will join the Steam coaching staff on the ice this weekend when main camp gets underway on Friday night at the Summerland Arena.
