U18 AAA

Trevor Sprague will oversee both the Integrated and Female AAA programs in Northern B.C. Sprague has been involved in hockey in the north for over 30 years and has spent the last 17 years with teams in the BCEHL. He is entering his 10th season as the general manager of the Cariboo Cougars and sixth as the general manager of the Northern Capitals. Sprague coached in Prince George for over 20 years before moving to the management side of the game.  

During his coaching and management career, Sprague has won two provincial titles with the Cariboo Cougars’ U18 AAA team. Sprague is also a key driver behind the annual BC Hockey Winter Classic event that is held in Northern B.C. each winter. 

Tyler Brough began his coaching career in the 2013-14 season. He is entering his 11th season with the Cariboo Cougars program. His career coaching highlight is his first championship as head coach, in the 2017-18 season with the U18 AAA Cariboo Cougars.

During his playing days Brough won a National Junior A Championship with the Fort McMurray Oil Barons of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) where he scored the game-winning goal. His stick and gloves from that game were taken to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

The BCEHL welcomes Brad Veitch for his first season as general manager for the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds. Veitch, between 2002-2022, has held various positions within Mission Minor Hockey Association (MHA), including manager, head coach and assistant coach at the U11, U13, U15, U18 and U21 levels. Additionally, he served as Mission MHA's vice president from 2007-2013. The Mission native was the head coach of the Pacific Junior Hockey League's Mission City Outlaws from 2013-2022. 

Veitch is currently a full-time senior systems analyst. He attended Mercyhurst University from 1990-1994 where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science.

Riley Emmerson is entering his fourth season with the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds and his seventh in the BCEHL. Previously,  he was with the Valley West Giants for three years. He was a player coach with the Edinburgh Capitals of the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) in the U.K. during the final season of his playing career, which was also the start of his coaching career. He loves the challenge of pushing players to their best both on and off the ice. His coaching career highlight was a 16 round shootout win against the Greater Vancouver Canadians in the Pat Quinn Tournament.

Before Emmerson started coaching, he carved himself out a successful playing career, playing 10 years of professional hockey. In 2005 he was drafted to the National Hockey League by the Minnesota Wild and played in the East Coast Hockey league (ECHL), American Hockey League (AHL), Central Hockey League (CHL), and the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL).

Shawn McQuistin embarks on his first season as general manager for the Greater Vancouver Canadians. McQuistin was previously with Richmond Jets Minor Hockey Association (MHA), from 2013-2022 where he served in head coach, assistant coach and skill development coach roles at the U11 and U15 levels. Since 2022, McQuistin has held the position of head coach with the Vancouver Thunderbirds MHA's U11 A1 squad.

The Richmond native is a full-time employee for the City of Richmond's Water Department.

Sinclair Kim is in his sixth season as a coach with the Greater Vancouver Canadians program, and second as head coach with the U18 squad. Hockey has taken Kim all over the world, with stops in South Korea and most recently Sweden. He has worked with players from all levels from beginners to professionals. His passion is to help young players grow, both on-and-off the ice.

After growing up and playing hockey in the lower mainland, Kim continued his hockey playing journey all the way to the college level. His coaching career highlight is getting to coach in a different countries and experiencing different hockey cultures.

Steve Smith is entering his fourth season as a general manager in the BCEHL. Smith currently serves as the Director of Hockey Operations of Okanagan Mainline Amateur Hockey Association. Prior to this, he was the executive director of Kelowna Minor Hockey Association from 2017-2025, division director from 2010-2017, and a coach in the association from 2008-2017. 

The Kelowna native has compiled over 20 years of experience working in minor hockey in Kelowna.

After serving as an assistant coach within the U15 and U17 Okanagan Rocket squads for three seasons, Tyler Parfeniuk assumes the head coaching role with the U17 AAA Okanagan Rockets program for the 2025-26 season.

A former player with the Rockets’ program from 2007-2009, he continued his playing career in the junior ranks, spending three seasons with the Nelson Leafs of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. Originally from Kelowna, Parfeniuk is a graduate of Okanagan College, where he earned a Bachelors of Business Administration. Away from the rink, Parfeniuk works as a litigated insurance adjuster.

Troy Larsen assumes the role as general manager of the Thompson Blazers program for a second consecutive season. Larsen is an experienced member of the hockey community in Kamloops, having served as the Vice President of Kamloops Minor Hockey Association from 2011-2019, and the Director of Hockey Operations for the Kamloops Junior Blazers Development program from 2015-2021.

Originally from Fort St. John, Larsen attended University College of the Cariboo (now Thompson Rivers University) in Kamloops. Outside of hockey, Larsen works for Bell Canada.

After serving as head coach of the Female U18 Thompson-Okanagan Lakers for two seasons, and the U17 Okanagan Rockets last season, Ed Patterson joins the U18 Thompson Blazers as head coach for the 2025-26 season. He spent eight years coaching and facilitating clinics with Kamloops Minor Hockey Association, eight years as head coach of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League’s Kamloops Storm and the two seasons as an assistant coach with the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League (WHL).  

Patterson played his minor hockey with Delta Minor Hockey Association before playing for the Seattle Thunderbirds, Swift Current Broncos and Kamloops Blazers of the WHL. He accumulated 15 years of professional hockey experience, playing in the International Hockey League (IHL) in North America, Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) in Germany, Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) in the United Kingdom and the National Hockey League, where he played 68 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins from 1993 to 1997.  

Jamie Fiset is entering his eighth year as the general manager of the Valley West Giants and brings an additional nine years of working experience in minor hockey with him. He has previously been involved with BC Hockey's Program of Excellence, including a stint as the head coach of Team BC at the 2016 WHL Cup.  

Fiset was a board member with Langley Minor Hockey Association from 2010-2014. He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree and Bachelor's Degree in Education at the University of British Columbia before earning his Master of Arts degree at Royal Roads University. Away from the rink, Fiset is a teacher.

Ken Guthrie is in his eighth season coaching with the Vancouver NE Chiefs and his third as head coach of the Chiefs' U18 AAA side. He grew up in Burnaby, B.C. and began coaching with Burnaby Minor Hockey Association. Guthrie started with the U18 AAA Chiefs as a Video Coach and was the head coach of the U17 AAA team for three seasons.

Guthrie enjoys the competitive environment and working with players to help them achieve their goals while building connections and helping them become better players and people.

James Wall will lead the Vancouver North West Hawks as general manager for his second BCEHL season. With 15 years in minor hockey, Wall's background includes a decade coaching and eight years as director of hockey with West Vancouver Minor Hockey Association (MHA), and four years as director of hockey operations for North Vancouver MHA.

Originally from Maple Ridge, Wall played minor hockey with Ridge Meadows MHA and graduated from the University of Windsor with a Bachelor of Fine Arts honours degree. Wall is a certified high-performance coach with credentials from BC Hockey and Hockey Canada.

Tim Knight has coached hockey programs around the lower mainland and Sea to Sky area for the past 25 years. He has been involved with BC Hockey's U16 Pursuit of Excellence program for 10 years and has coached multiple U18AAA/U15AAA clubs with the BCEHL.

He is the founder of three High School hockey academies in the Sea to Sky Region and also was part of establishing the BC Hockey High School Championship BCHSHL Pilot. His goal is for the program to serve the young men throughout their years in hockey, but more importantly teach them values that they can take for the rest of their lives.