Sockeyes Hire Veteran Coach Brien Gimmell

One season closes wrapping up what should have been a “winner takes all’ but for whatever reason the 2025-26 chapter failed to produce the championship team that was built for winning. Players move on to the next chapter in their career in search of reaching and achieving their dream goal: of playing at the highest level of the game they can qualify for. Not only do players move on, so do the coaches who look to build their resume working with new teams and organizations while developing future hockey stars of tomorrow.

The final chapter this past season saw the departure of Head Coach Scott Hew- son who moved on after an impressive season record of 44 wins, 5 losses along with one O/T win - finishing with 88 points, and with this amazing season the team failed to make it to the final championship.

As we all know there are three parts to any season, pre-season, regular season, then wrapping up with the playoff season. While any team can have a winning record in regular season that doesn’t necessarily carry over to the playoffs. Sad but true, it was painful to watch the team play their hearts out all season and into the playoffs to see their journey end so soon. The Richmond Sockeyes wish Scott Hewson well in his future endeavours while the Sockeyes’ organization search for a new “bench boss” as they head into the upcoming PJHL season.

Given the professionalism of the Sockeyes organization it’s no surprise that they had applications from several qualified individuals who submitted their resumes for consideration. The search was finalized with the hiring of Brien Gemmell who has been involved with not just the hockey league but also hockey in the lower mainland for several seasons working at various levels of the game from Minor to Junior hockey

Brien and I have a personal connection that goes back years and I can honestly say I have found him to be honest, fair and dedicated to growing the sport which involves focusing on their integrity, commitment, and a passion for the game far beyond just winning. Knowing his background I learned that he has two brothers both who played sports (one developed a career in in radio communications while the other is an educator in Whitehorse).

His career in coaching dates back following his playing days in North Delta up to U18 or Juvenile followed by his interest in coaching and in 1990 working with a couple of “buddies” his desire became a reality. During his playing days in North Delta as he put it “I had some remarkable coaches such as Gary McCaskill, Norm Wallace and Gary Flemming to name a few” who became a big part of his “playbook”.

That kicked-off his career, understanding coaching which contributed to his passion while establishing a career as a school teacher following in his parents footsteps who were both teachers whick took place in the nineties when he pursued his teaching certificate in Dawson Creek.

Living there saw him get involved with his first experience in hockey with the Dawson Creek Raiders with Gary Cooper who is a long-time coach “a year and a bit” in the winter of 1997 before returning to the lower mainland in January 1998, getting hired by the Surrey School District. He was a Physical Education teacher during the day then coached in the evening, eventually moving to coach in North Delta working under coaches such as Ron John- son, Bill Zarheria and others.

Ron or ”RJ” has coached several teams from Minor to Junior hockey winning a National Championship in 98 while Bill was an Assistant Coach with the Burnaby Bulldogs working with former NHL’er Darcy Rota in the late 90ties. He mentioned “there are lots of people who think you just go on the ice and run a practice, but there’s more to it than that” which filters down to having a succession plan moving forward. Brian started working with the Delta Ice Hawks and the Surrey Eagles (around) 1998 working with Mark Holick for a few years then moved to the Head Coach/GM position with the Queens Park Pirates the year before they moved to North Delta.

Eventually Brian along the way, worked with Craig Sherbaty in 2004 where they put together a skills program at Tweedsmuir until 2014 then moved on to coach in Cloverdale at the U15 AAA then the U18 AAA levels. He was eventually contacted by former Richmond Sockeyes player Brett Reusch who introduced Brien to his Uncle Ron who got him involved when Jay Rogers was leaving and was looking for some- one to get involved.

Changes in the off-season saw the building of the Cloverdale Junior Hockey Club who were looking for someone to get it off the ground and this seemed to be the fit Brian was looking for. Given possible changes with Cloverdale it was Brien’s opportunity to get back involved with coaching one of the most iconic junior franchises in BC as well as the opportunity to work with the Sockeyes.

I asked him if there was one thing over time that has changed the game he mentions “you have to be a communicator given that in today’s world communication means doing things differently and making sure you understand how to get things done.”

Coaching reflects on, setting specific boundaries for everyone and given he’ll be working with returning coaches Matthew Stewart and Bob Delorme they are looking to add one more team member. Brien’s approach is more on the calmer side dealing with players, officials as well as situations that others might not understand. Given the way the game has changed it’s going to be a collaborative approach from ownership to coaching staff and bringing in additional players which can be difficult given the many changes in today’s hockey world. Brien’s professionalism and dedication to growing the Sockeyes and bringing a championship team to the City of Richmond is only the start of exciting things to come.

We welcome Brien to the Richmond Sockeyes!!