The Grande Prairie Storm have recruited some homegrown talent to fill their assistant coach position. Well-known Storm alumni Dennis Rix has been tapped to replace Todd Laurin, who will stay on as goalie coach. Rix was born and raised in Grande Prairie, before playing in Europe and spending four years for Michigan Tech.
“It’s nice to be back home. To get an opportunity like this to be back with the Storm organization is really a dream come true. As a kid I always wanted to play for the Storm and got the opportunity to do that, and now to have it come full circle coaching and helping mentor young kids with Kevin [Higo] and the rest of the staff is really exciting.”
Rix was on the 2009 championship team, and earned 99 points the following year. At 26 years old, he hopes to be more of the players’ coach, being approachable for some of the younger players. Head Coach Kevin Higo says when they met, it was clear how passionate Rix is about the Storm organization.
“It’s enthusiasm and energy; just in the short time he’s been here, he’s just excited. He wants to learn. He already wants to do stuff, which is great. For someone like me that’s been doing this for going on 16, 17 years, to have somebody like that is a breath of fresh air.”
He officially starts in August but will be on the ice for this weekend’s camp.
