Concordia names Marc-André Élement head coach of Stingers men's hockey
The former team captain was interim head coach last season
After a year coaching the Concordia Stingers men's hockey team on an interim basis, Marc-André Élement learned Friday he will be the school's permanent head coach moving forward.
"It's where I spent five years playing, two years as an assistant coach, this is where I met my wife, so it's really home for me," Élement said.
Élement grew up in Val-d'Or and moved to Montreal at 18 for CEGEP.
In 2006, he started studying at Concordia and playing for the hockey team under then-head coach Kevin Figsby.
Kevin Figsby, for me, was kind of a role model.- Marc-André Élement, head coach, Conocordia men's hockey
Élement took on a leadership role on the team in his third year when he was named assistant captain. He was named captain for his fourth and fifth seasons.
He graduated with a degree in human relations in 2011, then joined the Figsby's coaching staff as an assistant.
Last year Figsby abruptly quit as head coach to take a job with Hockey Canada and Élement stepped in to replace him.
"Kevin (Figsby), for me, was kind of a role model," he said. "I'm going to change a lot of stuff, but Kevin did a really, really good job with this program so I'm just going to keep building on what he has done."
Concordia's trend of young head coaches
Élement's hiring is just the latest step in Concordia's overhaul to its men's sports programs.
In 2013, the school hired Patrick Boivin as athletics director. Since then, he's replaced longtime head coaches in football, basketball and hockey with men in their early thirties who are graduates of the programs they're now running.
Football coach Mickey Donovan was 33 when he replaced Gerry McGrath in 2014, basketball coach Rastko Popivic was 34 when he replaced John Dore in 2015 and now 31-year-old Élement has taken over the hockey program.
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"It's a big family now and it's just an amazing environment to work with," Élement says.
Boivin also oversaw the completion of a $7.75-million renovation of the Ed Meagher Arena, where the Stingers play their home games.
'Recruitment is key' to turning around Stingers hockey
The Stingers hockey program has struggled in recent years.
Since the 2009-10 season, the team hasn't had a winning season, posting a pedestrian 69-100-24 overall record and having never finished better than sixth place in the division.
Élement says his plan to turn things around involves recruiting players from outside of the province.
"I'm going to focus on the OHL and the WHL and junior A. I'm not just going to stay in Quebec," he says.
"Recruitment is the key and I've been working hard there. I'm going to hire recruiters that are going to go around and look for the best talent."