Moncton Wildcats head coach Gardiner MacDougall earns CHL Award

Gardiner MacDougall from the Moncton Wildcats was named Coach of the Year by the Canadian Hockey League.

The head coach of the Moncton Wildcats has been honoured at the 2025 CHL Awards.

The Canadian Hockey League held its annual award ceremony in Toronto Friday, honouring the accomplishments of players and coaches.

Moncton Wildcats head coach Gardiner MacDougall won the Brian Kilrea Coach of the Year Award, becoming just the third coach in CHL history to be honoured in their debut season.

MacDougall and his son Taylor, the team’s general manager, were hired in May of 2024.

The Wildcats posted a 53-9-2-0 record under MacDougall’s leadership, earning an .844 points percentage, which according to chl.ca, is the eighth-best in QMJHL history.

The Wildcats took home the Gilles-Courteau Trophy as the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League’s playoff champion this year, boasting a 16 – 3 postseason record and earning a spot in the Memorial Cup.

The 2025 Memorial Cup was the club’s third appearance in franchise history. The team made it to the semi-finals, where they fell to the London Knights.

Two Moncton Wildcats players were also nominated for a CHL Award. Centre Caleb Desnoyers got the nod in the category of Top Draft Prospect, given to the top eligible prospect for the NHL Entry Draft from the Canadian Hockey League, and forward Julius Sumpf was a finalist for Sportsman Player of the Year.

Maxwell Jardine, a defenceman for the Charlottetown Islanders, took home the Humanitarian of the Year Award, given to the player judged to have made the most notable contributions to his community. Jardine is the third Islanders player in the past four seasons to become a finalist for the award.

Halifax Mooseheads netminder Jacob Steinman received a nomination for Goaltender of the Year.

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