Cougars hire Dean Clark

From Jim Swanson, the sports editor of the Prince George Citizen:

The Prince George Cougars have a new head coach.
Dean Clark, 45, has agreed to a five-year contract to take over the Western Hockey League franchise. Clark succeeds Wade Klippenstein, who took over on an interim basis on Dec. 1 when Drew Schoneck was fired.
Klippenstein will remain as assistant general manager, and is expected to take control of the scouting operations some time after Thursday’s WHL bantam draft.
Clark has been a head coach with the Calgary Hitmen, Brandon Wheat Kings and Kamloops Blazers, compiling a record of 382-253-61. He was named CHL coach-of-the-year in 1998 after steering the Hitmen following the Graham James scandal, then led the Hitmen to an overtime loss in the 1999 Memorial Cup.
Clark has been out of hockey since being fired by the Blazers early in the 2007-08 season.
“I’m really excited about the opportunity to come to Prince George to continue my coaching career,” Clark said in a team-issued release.
“Having known (Cougars owner and president) Rick Brodsky and (general manager) Dallas Thompson previously and seeing the character those two men bring to the organization makes me very excited about joining the Cougars, especially to a team that is on the rise with the amount of young talent it has.
“I’ve had the opportunity to coach in Prince George when the CN Centre was probably the toughest building in the WHL to play in for visiting teams. In the WHL, things have a way of coming around again and I look forward to getting back to those days when the building was full and teams had a tough time facing the Cougars in Prince George.”
Clark becomes the ninth coach in Prince George’s WHL history, and the second former Blazers coach to move into the office. Ed Dempsey, the first coach ever fired by the Kamloops franchise, was in his seventh season guiding the Cougars when he was terminated in 2003.
“This is a giant step forward for our organization,” Brodsky said in the release. “With Dean behind the bench, we foresee great things for the organization and the city of Prince George. With the group of kids we have and our younger prospects, Dean is exactly what we were looking for.”
Clark and wife Darilyn are expected to move to Prince George in early August to prepare for the upcoming season.