EVERETT — Brennan Sonne still feels he’s living a fantasy.
It’s been more than a month since Sonne was hired by the Everett Silvertips as an assistant coach, and he still can’t believe he’s helping guide the team he once played for.
“Maybe in a couple dreams,” Sonne replied when asked whether he ever imagined returning to Everett to help coach the Tips. “Obviously things change with a young man going off to university, so there were a few things I was considering for careers. But this opened up and how can you not jump at the opportunity?
“It’s great,” Sonne added about how the job has gone so far. “Obviously it was a huge part of my playing career, so it’s extremely exciting to be back to a place that means so much to me and is such a big part of my life. I’m elated.”
When Mark LeRose stepped down as an assistant coach in May to become the general manager of the United States Hockey League’s Sioux City Musketeers, it created a void on Everett’s three-man coaching staff, one that remained vacant for much of the offseason.
But that void was filled when the Tips reached into their past for Sonne. The 27-year-old native of Maple Ridge, B.C., spent parts of three seasons with Everett as a player from 2005-07, registering nine goals, five assists and 210 penalty minutes in 106 games. He was known as a hard-working, checking-line winger who was particularly adept when dropping the gloves. He also served as the Tips’ secret weapon in shootouts.
Sonne brings his skills and experiences to a staff that feels like one big reunion. Both of Everett’s assistants, Sonne and Mitch Love, played for current head coach Kevin Constantine during Constantine’s first coaching stint from 2003-07.
“We lost a really good assistant in Mark LeRose, and we gained a really good assistant in Brennan,” Constantine said. “He’s young and energetic, and he understands Everett and our program and our traditions and our culture. I think he’s been a really good addition to our staff. I just think he’ll energize us as coaches with his enthusiasm, and I think he’ll energize our players, too.”
Sonne’s return trip to Everett, however, took some significant detours.
After Sonne completed his Western Hockey League eligibility with the Edmonton Oil Kings in 2008, he attended the University of British Columbia. He played three seasons at UBC while working toward his sociology degree, which he completed in 2013. He was considering a career working with youth when an unusual opportunity arose: hockey in Hong Kong.
“I was coaching a spring team and a normal winter team, as well as working at a not-for-profit youth center and finishing up university,” Sonne explained. “A peer (Adam Maglio) I had played varsity hockey with was on an internship in Hong Kong the year previous, and he phoned me as he had just become the director of the hockey academy. He knew what I was doing, and because of the diverse ages of the kids in the academy and the fact I was already coaching, he asked me to be the head coach of the academy.”
Therefore, last fall Sonne packed up and headed to China. He became the head coach at the Meco Hockey Academy in Hong Kong, working with kids from ages 5-14.
Coaching in Hong Kong was a significantly different experience from working with kids in Canada, as hockey is nearly unknown in China. Sonne estimated there were approximately 300 youth players total in a city that boasts a population of more than 7 million.
“It was interesting because it’s not a traditional hockey place,” Sonne said. “When you grow up watching hockey you sort of have an innate idea of what the game looks like. But it’s not on TV over there, it’s real difficult for the kids to watch, so they don’t really have that innate idea of the game.
“My first few weeks were really instilling the values of defense because the big thing is scoring goals — all they ever see is highlights of Sidney Crosby. So I was trying to teach the kids how to skate backwards. Once we got that down, then it went really well win-wise. It was really fun.”
Little did Sonne realize his overseas adventure would eventually lead back to Everett.
With a little coaching experience under his belt, Sonne saw himself as a viable candidate for Everett’s vacant assistant position.
“I always tried to stay in contact with friends I made in my time here,” Sonne said. “I talk to Jay (Varady, a former Everett assistant coach) and all sorts of alumni — I was in close contact with Mitch working on alumni stuff. I went to a coaching conference last year and Kevin was speaking, so I don’t think the lines of communication were ever totally dead. In talking with Kevin and Garry (Davidson, Everett’s general manager), I decided to sit down and pursue it seriously.”
Sonne got the job, and his duties with the Tips range far and wide. As a former forward, his primary duties will be helping Constantine with the forwards. However, he’ll also be a point man in working on the players’ skill development, and he’ll be the coach responsible for monitoring the academics of the players who are still in high school.
“He took advantage of his scholarship money with the WHL to get a college education, so I think he understands exactly what it takes for a kid to come through and get the right grades and make himself a potential college student,” Constantine said. “We’re trying to build pro players, but some don’t do that. Some go the college route, and he’s been through that process.”
So Sonne, an individual who little more than a year ago was contemplating his career choices, now finds himself on the coaching track — which he hopes to continue for a long time.
“I sure hope so,” Sonne said. “It’s so surreal being back here. Who knows, maybe I’ll keep getting lucky like this, we’ll see.”
Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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