The Westside Warriors are pleased to announce the hiring of Darren Yopyk as their Head Coach/Director of Hockey Operations. Darren was born and raised in St. Paul, Alberta and will be relocating to West Kelowna from North Andover, Mass.
Darren played in the AJHL before receiving a scholarship to the prestigious Princeton University. Yopyk was a four-year starter at Princeton and captained the team as a senior. He was a First Team All-Ivy League performer as a senior and was a four-year member of both the ECAC and Ivy League All-Academic Teams. He helped lead Princeton to its first ECAC Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in 1998. As a senior, he earned the Blackwell Trophy as the team’s MVP and the 1941 Championship Trophy, which is awarded annually to the varsity player who best reflected the winning spirit of the 1941 championship team.
Yopyk served as a graduate assistant coach at the University of Massachusetts Amherst for two seasons from 2000-2002. During his tenure with the Minutemen, Yopyk assisted with on-campus recruiting and coordinated the digital video analysis.
Yopyk earned a Master’s Degree in Psychology from UMass Amherst and received his Ph.D. in Psychology with an emphasis on student-athlete academic performance in May, 2006.
Darren spent the past 4 years coaching at Merrimack College. He was promoted to associate head coach before the 2008-09 season, he worked primarily with the defenseman and penalty killing unit and served as the schools top recruiter in the northwest and Canada. He also ran the team hockey mentorship program, served as an academic advisor for the Warrior’s hockey players, and coordinated and broke down game video. Currently there are 10 players from the AJHL and BCHL attending Merrimack with 2 players taken in the 2009 NHL entry draft. Darren has established great contacts in Western Canada, is a competent recruiter who can sell a program to young players and their families. Darren is regarded as a tireless, dedicated worker, focused on teaching, hard work, commitment and effort.
“I am extremely excited about joining the Westside Warriors organization. I would like to thank Gary Gelinas and the entire staff on giving me this opportunity. I look forward to building on the previous success that Coach Howell and his staff have had over the past 3 seasons. I am eager to get out in the community of West Kelowna and meet all of the wonderful people and supporters,” said Yopyk.
Merrimack Head Coach Mark Dennehy said this about Coach Yopyk: “It was with a heavy heart that I accepted Coach Darren Yopyk's letter of resignation the other day. I was also very happy for him and proud as Coach Yopyk was offered and accepted the head coaching position for the Westside Warriors of the BCHL. Darren has put his heart and soul into the Merrimack Hockey program. Now it’s his turn to take the next step in his quest to be a head coach. He was the first person I brought into the Merrimack Hockey family and I wish him nothing but success. Finally, I would like to thank him for his loyalty and dedication to Merrimack Hockey and its players.”
“As an organization we are excited to name Darren Yopyk as our Head Coach. The fact he played Junior A, accepted a scholarship to Princeton and has been coaching at the NCAA level was a big factor in his being the successful candidate. He is a tireless worker, has excellent recruiting contacts is a very impressive person and comes with a solid coaching reputation. The organization is excited to welcome him to the team and community and look forward to having him build on the success we have had the past 3 years. We feel Darren and James Eccles provide us with a coaching staff that will be able to recruit with some of the best programs in the country. On behalf of the entire Westside organization we welcome Darren to the Warriors family,” stated Gelinas, team president.
Darren has officially started his work and will be relocating to West Kelowna by the end of July.
