The Prince Albert Mintos knew who they wanted to bring in as their new head coach as soon as they finished their interview with him.
The Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League team announced on Thursday evening that Danton Danielson of the Saskatoon Outlaws Bantam AA program would be coming in to serve as their bench boss for the 2019-20 season.
“We had a hiring committee that had interviews with our top four candidates from the 14 that applied for the job,” Mintos team manager Don Fauchoux said.
“When we finished speaking with Danton, he really stood out and we all knew that we wanted to give him this opportunity.”
Danielson, who has been involved as a coach with the Saskatoon Minor Hockey Association since 2008, has helped the Outlaws reach the North Division final in the Saskatchewan Bantam AA Hockey League as they currently trail Martensville Marauders 1-0 ahead of Game 2 in Saskatoon Friday night.
“We got good reports on him from our contacts in the Western Hockey League, Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League and the Saskatchewan Hockey Association,” Fauchoux said.
“Danton’s a real go-getter and he’s really excited about taking our team to the next level.”
Following the conclusion of the Outlaws season, Danielson will join the team on a full-time basis.
He’s expected to be at the Art Hauser Centre for the Mintos’ spring camp, which will run from April 5-7.
In other news, Mintos’ captain and defenceman Alex Ozar was named to the SMAAAHL’s second all-star team Thursday as the league announced their 2018-19 awards recipients.
Prince Albert Raiders prospects and Saskatoon Blazers teammates Cole Nagy and Nolan Allan both made the first all-star team, with Allan also being named as the league’s top defenceman.
Tisdale Trojans blueliner Landon Kosior, who has attended the last two Raiders training camps, was named as the Adam Herold Award recipient that goes to the league’s best defensive defenceman.
Cole Sillinger of the Regina Pat Canadians, who led the league in scoring with 76 points, received the top forward, rookie of the year and most valuable player awards.
Tanner Martin of the Trojans took home the top netminder accolade.
The best-of-five league final will be between the third seeded Blazers and the fourth ranked Notre Dame Hounds, with the series getting underway in Saskatoon Saturday.
The winner will advance to the Telus Cup West Regional tournament, which will be hosted by the Trojans from April 4 to 7 and will see the winner head to the national championship in Thunder Bay, Ont.
