April 1, 2019
Of the nearly 60 head coaches to participate in the CCAA National Hockey Championships, only one appeared in four consecutive championship finals.
As head coach of the Red Deer College Kings for 15 seasons, Allan Ferchuk guided the men's hockey team to gold at four Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) Hockey Championships (1976‐77, 1977‐78, 1979‐80, 1982‐83) and three 4‐West Hockey Championships (1976‐77, 1977‐78, 1979‐80). In five appearances at the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA) National Hockey Championships, he coached the Kings to three gold medals (1976‐77, 1978‐79, 1979‐80) and two silver medals (1977‐78, 1982‐83).
The former ACAC Hockey Coach of the Year was the first coach in any sport (and the only hockey coach) to guide one team to four consecutive CCAA National Championship final appearances. He was the first hockey coach in the CCAA and the first ACAC coach in any sport to win three national titles. He was the first hockey coach in the CCAA and the first ACAC coach in any sport to win two consecutive national titles. (Prior to the 1980 CCAA National Championships, no team had made four CCAA National Championship final appearances in one sport and no team had won three CCAA National Championships in one sport.)
The 1982-83 CCAA Coaching Award of Excellence recipient was inducted into the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference Hall of Fame in 2014 and the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame in 2012.
The Prince Alberta, Saskatchewan native was an educator at Red Deer College for 38 years from 1973 through 2011 and was RDC's Athletic director for 22 years from 1986 through 2008. During the 1998‐99 academic year, he was honoured as Athletic Director of the Year in the Junior College/Community College category by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA). In 2005, he was named the CCAA's Athletic Director of the Year.
Ferchuk also gave back to the sports community as a volunteer and served at the chair or executive level with the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference, the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association, the Canada Amateur Hockey Association, and the Central Alberta Sport Development Alliance.
His efforts in sports development have been recognized on many levels. He was honoured with the Alberta Centennial Salute Award in Sport and Recreation in 2005, the City of Red Deer’s Lifetime Sport Achievement Award in 2009 and the Central Alberta Leadership Centre's Pillar of the Community Award in 2015.
For the past four years, the Red Deer County resident was involved with the 2019 Canada Winter Games as a governor.