Erin King joins X-Men hockey coaching staff

(Antigonish, NS)—The StFX Department of Athletics and X-Men hockey head coach Brad Peddle are pleased to announce that Erin King will be joining the X-Men program as the new, full-time assistant coach.

“We are very pleased to welcome Erin into the X-Men hockey program,” comments Coach Peddle. “He is a high character, good young coach, very intelligent and comes highly recommended. He has extensive experience in the minor hockey levels from Hockey Nova Scotia High Performance Programs, Major Midget and Bantam Major. This experience will serve him well and make him a good fit for the development role created with our newly forged partnership with the Antigonish Minor Hockey Association.”

“He will also be a valuable asset to the continued development of our X-Men hockey summer and spring camps,” continues Peddle. “He is a highly motivated and hard working individual that we are looking for forward to adding to our X-Men staff.”

This past season King, a native of Bedford, NS, was the head coach of the Halifax Major Bantam hockey club, who won the NSMBHL provincial championship and were Atlantic Canada bronze medalists. For his coaching efforts he was named the 2011 Sport Nova Scotia Coach of the Year for the sport of hockey. Two seasons prior, King was an assistant coach with the Halifax Taylar Made Security Titans Major Midget hockey club. They were the 2009-10 regular season champions and Atlantic Canada bronze medalists, and were NSMMHL silver medalists in 2008-09. He also has assistant coaching experience with Charles P. Allen High School and various teams in the Bedford Minor Hockey Association.

A Hockey Nova Scotia High Performance staff member since 2007, King was the head coach of the 2010 Atlantic Challenge Cup gold medalist Under 14 squad and was an assistant coach with the same team in 2009 when they also won gold. He also has experience as a head scout for two seasons with the Miramichi Timberwolves of the Maritime Junior A Hockey League. King played Midget AAA hockey with the Halifax McDonalds and was affiliated with the Halifax Oland Exports Junior A hockey club during his midget playing years. He is a 2008 graduate of Mount Saint Vincent University and spent two years studying at StFX prior to transferring to MSVU for the completion of his Arts degree.

“I am very excited and honored to be joining such a successful and storied X-Men hockey program,” says King. “I look forward to working closely with Coach Peddle and his staff to achieve our goal of bringing home a CIS championship to StFX University and the Town of Antigonish.”

King will begin his full-time assistant coaching duties at StFX on August 15th, he replaces Norm Batherson who relocated to the Annapolis Valley in June to pursue other career options. Also returning to assist Coach Peddle behind the bench for the upcoming 2011-12 hockey season are assistant coach David Stewart and goaltender coach Marty Lavallee. The X-Men begin pre-season exhibition play with a Keating Cup game on September 21st when they will host the University of Calgary at the Antigonish Arena. Atlantic University Sport regular season actions opens the weekend of October 14-15.