Ottawa, Ontario – The Central Canada Hockey League Tier 2 is pleased to announce that Brockville Tikis first year Head Coach Andrew Dickson is the recipient of the 2018-19 CCHL2 Coach of the Year award.
Dickson, 40, led the Brockville Tikis to their first playoff berth in CCHL2 history after they clinched a playoff spot in the Richardson Division last week. With four games remaining on the Tikis schedule, Dickson has guided them to a 22-16-6 record, which is a 16-win improvement from last years six wins. Brockville reaches the 20+ win mark for the first time since the 2014-15 season and for just the eighth time since 1999.
Brockville Tikis General Manager David Graham says that he knew the Tikis’ organization would be in good hands when he took over as their Head Coach this season.
“When Andrew took the job as Head Coach, the Tikis organization knew it was in good hands for player growth and development, to move on to the CCHL, or Jr. A across Canada. Being one of the youngest teams in the CCHL2, we both knew it was going to be a learning curb for the players, without a strong leadership group, none of the team success would be possible. Our team goal was to make the playoffs for the first time in the CCHL2 and we achieved that last week. Moving forward, now that we have clinched a spot, anything is possible,” said Graham.
The Brockville Tikis have the third youngest team in the CCHL2, with an average age 17.9. They are the third youngest team to clinch a playoff spot in league history.
“Andrew is a players coach that he has gone through the process of playing Junior away from home for the first time. It’s never easy to pack up and move away, but these experiences have helped many kids transition into Brockville smoothly,” added Graham on how Dickson’s experience has helped a young team who has just a handful of players from the Ottawa Valley area.
For Dickson, it’s not his first rodeo as a Junior Hockey Head Coach. After playing hockey at a high level from 1996 to 2011, Dickson transitioned to coaching in 2014-15, leading the Prescott Flyers to a first place finish in the EOJHL’s Rideau Division with 36-wins. The Ottawa native was later behind the bench for the Athens Aeros, taking his squad deep into CCHL2 playoffs, knocking off rival Westport and highly-ranked Perth before losing a close series against Richmond in the semi-final round.
The Brockville Tikis are just three points behind Perth and Westport for first in the Richardson Division. They’ll take on Whitewater twice, Westport and Athens before heading into the playoffs.
