Don Phelps
Hockey Builder - Inducted 2014
Don Phelps was a four-time AJHL Coach of the Year. For forty years, beginning in 1974, he coached more than 2000 hockey games and won more than 1000 games; 775 wins were with the Calgary Canucks. Don took his teams to 11 AJHL championships and won five (1986, 1988, 1990, 1995, and 1999). His Calgary Canucks team won the 1995 Centennial Cup. Don retired in 2011 and finished with the record for most wins by a Junior "A" coach in Canada. Don was also the founding father and a coach of the Major Midget League, which became the Alberta Major Midget League.
Don began his AJHL coaching career with the Drumheller Falcons in 1974. He received his first AJHL Coach of the Year Award for the 1974/75 season. He earned three more AJHL Coach of the Year awards with the Calgary Canucks in 1985/86, 1987/88, and 1989/90, and established a new record as a four-time recipient. He was also one of only three coaches to win a league championship as both a player and a coach.
Don was a community leader and he also wanted his players to be good citizens and reach their highest potential. Don developed them as possible NHL prospects, and also helped them to work on their life skills. Fourteen of his players had NHL careers including Dany Heatley and Stanley Cup Champion Craig Adams. Many of his players received scholarships to play at various Universities and Colleges throughout Canada and the United States and went on to become community leaders themselves.
Don was involved in hockey for more than 60 years as a player and a volunteer coach. He received a Silver Puck in honour of his retirement and commitment to the athletes of the Alberta Junior Hockey League during the past four decades. He was named the Calgary Booster Club Sportsman of the Year in 1998 and was inducted into the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame in 2013.
