Phil Fife named as MHL Coach Of The Year

The Maritime Junior Hockey League (MHL) is pleased to announce Amherst Jr. ‘A’ Ramblers Head Coach and General Manager Phil Fife as the 2023-24 Coach of the Year.

Taking over a team that missed the Metalfab MHL Cup Playoffs in 2022-23, Fife overhauled the roster and led the team to 21 more points year-over-year which was the second-best improvement in the MHL. The Ramblers went from 16-30-4-2 and a fifth-place finish last season to 27-20-3-2 in 2023-24 and the 2nd-seed in the Eastlink South.

Amherst scored 61 more goals this season with 204 while allowing only fifteen more. The Ramblers had the sixth-best powerplay (23.2%), improving from second-worst at 17.6% in 2022-23, and also had the sixth-best penalty kill (78.0%) in the MHL this season.

This is the first time a Ramblers Head Coach has won this award since Bill Riley in 1989-90.