EVERETT — On Monday, the Everett Silvertips formally announced that assistant coach and former player Brennan Sonne is leaving the organization to become the head coach of Les Ducs d’Angers of Ligue Mangus, the top professional hockey league in France.
“It’s very exciting,” Sonne said. “It’s a really cool professional opportunity to be a head coach in a professional hockey league. And being in Europe, in a beautiful city in France, it’s just kind of an added bonus.”
Tips general manager Garry Davidson indicated the wheels had been in motion on this move for a while, so the organization was not completely caught off-guard.
“He came to me some time ago and said there had been some dialogue and conversation with a team in Europe and he didn’t know where it was going to lead to,” said Davidson, who himself spent nearly eight years coaching in European leagues. “Then two days after we were finished, he said the momentum of the conversation and the negotiation was picking up and he would keep me posted. He did ask my advice a little bit on some things. I encouraged him and as it turned out, it has all come together.”
Les Ducs are the same French team coached both by former Everett Silvertips head coach Kevin Constantine and former Tips assistant and associate head coach Jay Varady. Tips goal-tending coach Shane Clifford also has served as goalie coach for the Ducs, so there are Everett connections aplenty in Angers.
In addition, Sonne’s lifelong friend, Cody Campbell, is a veteran forward with Les Ducs.
“I’m going to miss Everett,” Sonne said. “I’ve been in this city for a number of years as a player, as an alumnus and a coach, so I have pretty deep roots here. I’m going to miss it and miss the guys and the awesome staff and the guys I worked with, but again it’s a cool opportunity and we’re pretty excited.”
It will be Sonne’s second coaching foray abroad as he previously served as head coach at the Meco Hockey Academy in Hong Kong during the 2013-14 season. There he managed all aspects of the program while helping develop players ranging in age from 5-14.
Responsible for the Everett power play and the forwards during his three-year coaching stint, Sonne brought a high level of energy and a personable demeanor to the organization while he worked closely with Darren Parsons, the team’s academic coordinator to ensure the high-school age players succeeded in school.
A native of Maple Ridge, British Columbia, the 30-year-old Sonne played parts of three seasons with the Tips from 2005-08 before concluding his WHL career with stops in Red Deer and Edmonton. He then played three seasons at the University of British Columbia while earning his degree in sociology.
“I think he’s grown and developed nicely and is a quality person and has a very hard-working, professional approach to what he does and I think it is an outstanding opportunity,” Davidson said. “Hopefully it adds to his resume and he continues to move forward with his career in coaching.”
Sonne said he’s still tending to some things in the Silvertips offices this week, including dealing with player academics and billeting situations. Then he’ll begin planning for next season.
“My main focus in the coming weeks will be recruiting, making phone calls to current players on the team that are under contract and introducing myself and seeing if I can recruit a high level import or two from the West here to bring over,” he said. “That will be my focus the next couple weeks here.”
With the organization opting not to bring back head coach Kevin Constantine, only Mitch Love remains from this season’s staff. Davidson has expressed interest in retaining Love when a new head coach is named.
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