The Willmar WarHawks are pleased to announce that Head Coach Kirk Olimb has been hired as the new Head Coach of the Concordia College men’s hockey team.
Coach Olimb has successfully led the WarHawks for the past three seasons in Willmar compiling a three year regular season record of 72 wins, 56 losses and 4 overtime losses. This past season was the WarHawks most successful in team history with a record of 32 wins, 14 losses and 1 overtime loss. Last year, the WarHawks defeated Granite City in the first round of the playoffs for the WarHawks first playoff series victory in it’s history before losing 2 games to 1 against the eventual Fraser Cup champion North Iowa Bulls.
Team co-owner and President Chris Canavati had this to say: “We congratulate Kirk on his much deserved opportunity to be a head coach at the collegiate level. We were fortunate to have him in Willmar for three years and sad to see him leave. Kirk is a tireless recruiter and is passionate about developing players to move to the next level which is evidenced by the number of players that have moved on to next levels of hockey after playing for him. We wish him much success at his next level of hockey and are confident he will continue to succeed.”
A heartfelt thanks from Coach Olimb: I’m extremely excited to be taking over as the new head coach for the Concordia (MN) Men’s Hockey Program. That said, I want to thank the entire Willmar WarHawks organization for the past three fantastic seasons. We have accomplished a lot together and I know more great times are still to come. The Willmar area has been a wonderful place to live and I am so happy to have gotten a chance to live and coach here. I want to specifically thank owner Chris Canavati for giving me the opportunity to coach the WarHawks. He put his faith in me as a new head coach and I can never thank him enough for all he did to help me along the way. To the fans, billets, and staff, thank you all so much for all of your work to make the last three years a success. Without your support, none of this is possible. To WarHawks players past and present, it was truly an honor to coach you and thank you for all of your hard work and dedication throughout the years. I look forward to watching many WarHawks games in the future and am excited to see what this next chapter brings for not only me, but for the WarHawks as well. Thanks again and go ‘Hawks!
The team will name Associate Head Coach Connor White as Interim Head Coach until the new Head Coach is hired.
