Olds Grizzlys players that are trying to crack the team’s roster for the upcoming AJHL season are learning from a coach that has been there, done that.
34-year-old Assistant Coach Dylan Olsen had a very successful junior and pro hockey career. Olsen’s days with the Camrose Kodiaks included an Alberta Junior Hockey League championship in 2008 and being selected by Chicago in the first round of the NHL draft in 2009. He suited up for the University of Minnesota Duluth at the NCAA level prior to making National Hockey League stops with the Blackhawks and the Florida Panthers. Olsen says “yeah I mean it was quite the journey, quite the experience. I mean hockey brought a lot to me, it brought me to where I am at now. It all started in the AJHL playing for Boris (Rybalka) in Camrose really catapulted my career. I’ve been in these guys shoes before, been in this league, I know what it takes to get to the next level and that is just what I am trying to instill in these players to help them, you know, kind of have the success that I had.”
Olsen explains how he got into coaching with the Airdrie Stars U-18 Prep team in 2022. He says “so the first two years in Airdrie, I was coming off of retirement and wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do. I was just running private individual sessions and I figured “hey, let’s get into coaching.” Let’s try that out. The Stars gave me the opportunity to be the Head Coach for two years and it was amazing. Loved my time there, had two good teams and then jumping in with CIHA (Calgary International Hockey Academy) last year, again just moving up working with higher talent, more skilled individuals and helping them get to the next level which is now junior and here we are at the junior level.”
Olsen will be one of the Assistant Coaches for the Grizzlys this season and says one of his areas of responsibility will be overseeing the penalty kill.
Olds carries a preseason record of 2-0 into tonight’s home AJHL exhibition game at 7 o’clock (September 4th) against the Fort McMurray Oil Barons (0-1). Fort Mac lost 8-5 in Bonnyville on Tuesday.
96.5 The Ranch caught up with Dylan Olsen prior to the preseason game between the Calgary Canucks and the Grizzlys on August 31st in Olds.
