Laxdal to Coach Team WHL

Edmonton, AB - The Edmonton Oil Kings are proud to congratulate Head Coach Derek Laxdal on his selection as Assistant Coach for Team WHL at the 2012 Subway Super Series. Laxdal will serve as the Assistant Coach for games 5 and 6 of the series to be held in Vancouver and Victoria on November 14th & 15th.

Spokane Chiefs’ Head Coach Don Nachbaur will be behind the bench as Head Coach for both Team WHL games. Longtime Vancouver Giants Head Coach Don Hay will also serve as an Assistant Coach for the game in Vancouver, while the Victoria Royals’ Dave Lowry will join the coaching staff as an Assistant for the game in Victoria.
   
Laxdal is now in his third season as the Head Coach of the Edmonton Oil Kings. Laxdal came to the Oil Kings after serving five seasons as the Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations for the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL. While there he compiled an impressive 217-108-35 record and captured a Kelly Cup Championship in 2007. A native of Stonewall, MB Laxdal played for Brandon and Portland in the WHL during the mid 1980s. He won a Memorial Cup with the WinterHawks in 1982-83. Laxdal was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1984 and played 67 career NHL games with the Leafs and the New York Islanders. Last season, he guided the Oil Kings to franchise records for wins (50) and points (107) en route to the team's first WHL Championship in the modern era.

The SUBWAY® Super Series features regional teams of CHL All-Stars competing against the Russian National Junior Team in a six-game event serving as an integral part of the identification process for Team Canada prior to the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship.  

The WHL hosts the final leg of the six-game series with the first four games being hosted by the QMJHL and OHL respectively.  Last season the CHL prevailed with their eighth series win in nine years of this event earning a 10-8 victory in points which included three regulation wins, two losses, and one defeat by shootout.  Team Canada later captured bronze at the 2012 World Junior Championship in Calgary and Edmonton, AB.

The schedule for the 2012 SUBWAY® Super Series is as follows:
Game 1 – Monday November 5 at Blainville-Boisbriand, QC
Game 2 – Wednesday November 7 at Val-d’Or, QC
Game 3 – Thursday November 8 at Guelph, ON
Game 4 – Monday November 12 at Sarnia, ON
Game 5 – Wednesday November 14 at Vancouver, BC
Game 6 – Thursday November 15 at Victoria, BC

For more information including how to purchase tickets please visit www.subwaysuperseries.ca.