Kelly Paton hired as new head coach and manager of Laurier women’s hockey

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The Wilfrid Laurier University womenโ€™s hockey team has a new head coach. On May 11, 2018, the Laurier Department of Athletics announced the hiring of Kelly Paton as the new head coach and manager of womenโ€™s hockey operations.

Paton coached the Western Mustangs for the past two seasons and led the Hawksโ€™ rivals to a U-Sports silver medal in 2017.

Itโ€™s going to be an interesting transition for the Hawks as Rick Osborne had been behind the Hawksโ€™ bench for 15 seasons.

Paton has had a very successful coaching career at the university level so far. In her two seasons with Western, she coached the Mustangs to an overall record of 39-19 along with an OUA championship this past winter.

Her short, but admirable stint with the Mustangs shows why she was selected as the new Hawksโ€™ head coach among 90 applicants.

Although Paton will have a tall order to follow Rick Osborneโ€™s illustrious career, she envisions a fitting candidate to take the Hawks in the right direction.

The Hawks had a rough 2017-18 season and with such a young roster, expectations will have to be tempered in the short run.

However, with a new head coach and a young team full of potential, the sky is the limit going forward for the Golden Hawks.


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