Hyrsky has coached in Serbia, Netherlands and the U.S.
Joe McWilliams
Lakeside Leader
It’s rare that a person with international experience coaches hockey in Slave Lake. But that’s the case right now with the Slave Lake Icedogs. Their new coach Dave Hyrsky has worked in at least four countries other than Canada, some of it quite successfully.
“I took over the national program in Serbia,” Hyrsky says. “U18, U20, and men’s. Plus a pro team there.”
Not all at the same time, mind you. With one of those teams he won a world championship; another earned silver while he coached.
But like most coaches, Hyrsky was a player first. Born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, he came up through the system there and then played four seasons of Tier II Junior in Ontario – first in Smiths Falls and then for Brockville, in the Central Ontario League. His best junior season was 1987/88 with the Brockville Braves, when he scored 69 points.
After junior hockey, Hyrsky played a couple of seasons of college hockey for Laurentian University in his home town. Then he was off to Europe for pro stints in Italy and England. His last gig was as player-coach with the Stevenage Sharks. He must have liked the coaching experience, because it wasn’t long before he was doing it again, this time for Laurentian.
“I was an assistant for 2½ years and head coach for a year or two,” he says.
Following that he coached a junior team for a year in Elliott Lake Ontario, before Europe came calling again. How that came about was through a friend who had connections in Serbia.
After a few seasons in the Balkans, the same friend hooked him up with the pro league in the Netherlands. He started in Heerenveen (“The mecca of speedskating”) and moved around to various teams.
“I stayed for a long time,” he says.
One reason he stayed so long is because he met and married a local woman and started a family. They have two children, aged 16 and 14 and live in Njimegen. Hyrsky might have stayed, but the Dutch league went into decline. His next coaching gig took him to Las Vegas, Nevada to coach the Thunderbirds in the WSHL. He did that for a couple of seasons and was all set for a third campaign in 2021/22, but green card issues put the kibosh on that.
“I had met Lauren (Barr, the Icedogs GM) in Vegas,” Hyrsky says. But Barrhead (another WSHL) team called first, and needing a job, he signed on there this past fall.
“I really didn’t like the situation there,” he says, so when Barr offered him an assistant’s position in Slave Lake, he took it. Then over Christmas he was offered the head coaching job. This was just before flying home to the Netherlands to spend the holidays with his family. He mulled it over and back he came.
And how’s it going so far?
“Not bad. There’s a work ethic issue. I expect hard work. We will skate hard in practice until I’m satisfied and we’re not there yet.”
