Gardiner MacDougall recently earned the title of the winningest coach in Canadian university regular season men’s hockey history.
Now, after 24 years behind the bench of the University of New Brunswick’s men’s hockey team, MacDougall is retiring.
The announcement was made Tuesday evening during a celebration of his career at the Fredericton university.
MacDougall led the UNB men’s hockey team to a perfect 43-0 season in 2023-24 and clinched his ninth national title.
Weeks later, he coached Team Canada to gold at the 2024 IIHF U18 World Championships. The team went undefeated throughout the tournament.
But MacDougall is not only a winning coach when it comes to university hockey. He spent five weeks as interim head coach of the Saint John Sea Dogs in 2022, guiding the host team to the Memorial Cup after their elimination from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoffs.
No announcement has been made about what is next for MacDougall, but reports say he will take over as head coach of the Moncton Wildcats. It is widely expected the team will make the announcement on Wednesday morning.
The Wildcats parted ways with head coach Daniel Lacroix in April after a “disappointing conclusion” to the 2023-24 season.
Moncton was eliminated in the first-round of the playoffs after a four-game sweep by the Chicoutimi Saguenéens.
