Award for local hockey coordinator
John Kibyuk named Hockey Nova Scotia development co-ordinator of the year
COXHEATH — John Kibyuk may no longer be coaching, but his work with a local minor hockey association in Cape Breton was recently recognized.
The North Sydney native, who currently lives in Sydney, was named Hockey Nova Scotia's 2021 development coordinator of the year for his work with the Cape Breton County Minor Hockey Association.
Kibyuk joined the Coxheath-based minor hockey program in May 2019 to help with the development of youth hockey players within the association.
During the fall and winter months, Kibyuk was known for spending his weekends watching minor hockey games to have a better understanding of what each team needed to focus on during their next development sessions.
HOCKEY CAREER
Kibyuk played his minor hockey in North Sydney and suited up at both the high school and junior ‘B' levels. He played for Saint Mary's University in 1974, spending one season with the Halifax school.
He continued his hockey career in the Ontario Hockey Association where he played three seasons between the Toronto Marlboros, Guelph Holody Platers and Windsor Spitfires, recording 42 goals and 49 assists for 91 points in 161 career games.
In 1978, Kibyuk was invited to the Detroit Red Wings training camp and would play in the International Hockey League for the Kalamazoo Red Wings and the Muskegan Mohawks, before returning to the Maritimes to attend Dalhousie University in Halifax.
While at Dalhousie, Kibyuk earned his physical education degree and played hockey for the Tigers for three seasons.
Following university, Kibyuk was selected as a member of the Olympic Hope Team in 1983 and toured Canada to play against Sokol Kiev from Russia.
In 1984, Kibyuk was hired by Dalhousie as the hockey team's assistant coach and spent one year with the club before joining the Halifax Oland Exports of the Maritime Junior ‘A' Hockey League during the 1985-86 season.
After two years coaching, Kibyuk returned to the ice and played in the Nova Scotia Senior Hockey League for seven seasons. In 1989, he won the league's scoring title and became the all-time points leader.
Kibyuk made a return to the bench in 1997-98 coaching the Truro Bearcats senior ‘AAA' team, leading the club to an Allan Cup championship, a tournament hosted in Truro.
The following season, Kibyuk was recruited by Danny Flynn to be an assistant coach with the St. Francis Xavier X-Men, where he was an assistant from 1998-2004, but during that time also helped coach the Brookfield Elks of the Nova Scotia junior
‘B' league (2000-01) and the Exports (2001-02), winning both the Fred Page Cup as league champions and the Royal Bank Cup as national champions.
Kibyuk's winning culture continued with the X-Men, capturing the Atlantic University Sport and Canadian Interuniversity Sport championships.
He returned to Cape Breton to work and later joined the coaching staff of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles in 2011, prior to finishing his coaching career with the team in 2019.
Kibyuk retired from the position of development co-ordinator with the Cape Breton County Minor Hockey Association at the end of the 2020-21 season.