Katie Brickman
Lyndsey Janes always wanted to be a coach. She just thought that opportunity would be a little further into the future.
Instead, the former U SPORTS athlete is wrapping up her first season as assistant coach with the women’s hockey team at the University of Manitoba.
“Sports has always been the biggest part of my life. I knew it was something that I wanted to continue to be a part of once I was done playing,” Janes says. “I knew I wanted to coach in some capacity, but I just kind of thought it would be coaching my kids one day.”
Janes, who spent six seasons (2019-25) at Mount Royal University (MRU), captaining the Cougars in her final two years, got her first full-time coaching opportunity thanks to the Creating Coaches program through the Hockey Canada Foundation.
“I wouldn’t have been able to be in this position if it weren’t for the Creating Coaches program,” she says.
Creating Coaches provides selected student-athletes with mentorship, resources and support to ensure their coaching experience is positive. The goal of the program is to expose athletes to future opportunities in the game.
Janes started her schooling at MRU pursuing an education degree, but switched to a double major with bachelor’s degrees in business administration and marketing. She never felt comfortable with her schooling choice because she always envisioned herself in hockey in some capacity.
Head coach Scott Rivett suggested the Creating Coaches program; that was when she started dreaming a new role for herself after her playing days were over. She was nominated by Rivett and submitted her application, where she was accepted into the two-year program as part of the third cohort in the fall of 2023.
“[Scott] knew I had some experience coaching a tournament back home in Alberta, and he reached out asking me if I would be interested in the Creating Coaches program,” Janes says. “He nominated me, I applied and got accepted and the rest is kind of history.”
Janes was connected with two girls’ minor hockey teams in the Calgary area, spending one season as an assistant coach with the Airdrie U18 AA Lightning and another with the Calgary U18 AAA Fire while she was finishing her degree at MRU.
“My role was part-time since I was still playing, but I think that really sparked the idea that maybe this is something I could do as a career,” she says.
She learned a lot from the coaches she worked, seeing how to run the dressing room, practices and games to build rapport and trust with the players.
“My first experience of being on the bench as a coach was a cool experience,” Janes says. “I wasn’t always the fastest skater, had the best shot or was the most skilled. But one of my strengths was my IQ, my vision and the way I see the game. I found that coaching allowed me to use those strengths in a different way.”
Janes knows what it feels like to have both sides of coaching. Throughout her playing years, she experienced positive coaches that increased her love for the sport. She also experienced harder seasons with poor coaching.
“My journey through hockey was mostly a positive one in my development and
all the opportunities that I got to have,” she says. “I had my fair share of
great coaches who taught me so much and I also had my share of poor
experiences. I knew that I want to give my players a positive experience and
have an impact on the next generation of athletes.”
The opportunity with the Bisons came together quickly last summer. In May, the team hired Jordan Colliton, who was Janes’ associate coach during her time at MRU. She also spent two years as head coach of Leksands IF in the Swedish Women’s Hockey League.
Janes and Colliton got in touch and discussed the role and went through the hiring process. Janes is grateful for the Creating Coaches program for helping her get to this role and opportunity with confidence.
“It wasn’t an opportunity that I was necessarily expecting, so when it was presented to me, it was something I couldn’t pass up,” she says. “In the span of a couple of weeks, I moved to Winnipeg. This is something I did not expect to experience so early in my coaching career.”
The Bisons had a so-so regular season, finishing fifth with a 13-15 record, but got hot at the right time; they upset MRU in the Canada West semifinals to reach the championship series, where they came up just short against the University of British Columbia.
Next up, they’ll face the best from across the country at the U SPORTS national championship, March 19-22 in Waterloo, Ontario.
“I’m so glad I took this chance because I have learned so much and they are such an incredible group of athletes,” Janes says. “I’ve never seen a team so close-knit before and have something so special going on within the locker room. It was just an awesome year.”
Now that Janes has turned her ‘one day’ dream into reality, she wants to stay present and enjoy the moment with the Bisons and the continue to learn and grow as a coach. But she’d also be lying if she hasn’t set her next big goal of coaching the best players in the world.
“This year absolutely solidified that I want to be a coach. There is no other place I can see myself than being on the bench. Coaching is the first thing I’ve experienced that has given me the same feeling of passion and excitement that playing hockey did,” she says. “Obviously, the gears start turning and you start thinking about where you want to take it and as a female, it’s an exciting time in hockey and I think the opportunities are kind of endless.
“I know I am talking big dreams, but I would love to coach in the NHL or PWHL with the world’s best players. But I am super thankful that I am already working with such elite-level athletes today.”