The Prince George Cougars have hired Steve O'Rourke to work alongside new head coach Richard Matvichuk.
O'Rourke, whose title will be associate coach, is the father of Cougars prospect Ethan O'Rourke, who was selected by the club in the third round of the 2014 WHL bantam draft. For the past three seasons, the elder O'Rourke was an assistant coach for the Red Deer Rebels, where he worked with head coach Brent Sutter. Before O'Rourke joined the Red Deer staff, he served as head coach and general manager of the B.C. Hockey League's Langley Rivermen and also coached at the Okanagan Hockey Academy.
O'Rourke, from Summerland, also has experience at the professional level. From 2009 to 2011, he was an assistant with the Abbotsford Heat of the American Hockey League.
As a player, O'Rourke was a defenceman in the junior, collegiate and professional ranks. He suited up for 115 WHL games with the Tri-City Americans and Moose Jaw Warriors (1991-1994) and finished his junior career with the Penticton Panthers.
In the 1992 NHL draft, O'Rourke was a seventh-round selection (159th overall) of the New York Islanders.
After junior, O'Rourke played five seasons with the University of Lethbridge and then began a pro career that saw him make stops in the ECHL (Louisiana, Mississippi), England (Bracknell) and the UHL (Adirondack, Muskegon, Quad City).
"Steve is an excellent coach and a strong communicator who is going to be a great fit alongside Richard Matvichuk and (assistant) Michael Hengen," said Cougars general manager Todd Harkins in a team release. "He's learned from some of the very best at this level and he understands what it takes to relate to today's player off the ice, while also helping them improve on the ice. This is a great hire for our organization."
O'Rourke, 41, said the Cougars "are a team on the rise both on and off the ice" and said he's happy to be coming to Prince George.
"It's a privilege to coach in the Western Hockey League and I'm very grateful to the Cougars ownership and management staff for this opportunity," he said in the release.
O'Rourke will be joined in Prince George by his wife Karen, son Ethan and daughter Sophie.
