I’ve been asked several times since the RDP Kings won their third straight Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference hockey championship about the status of head coach Trevor Keeper.
Questioning if he’d be looking to move up to U Sport or even to the professional level.
That’s been answered when the 58-year-old, who’s been with the Kings for the past 11 seasons, accepted the head coaching position with the University of Regina Cougars.
He officially accepted the position and signed a five-year contract after flying out to Regina last week.
“I learned of the position, even before it was public knowledge, from a hockey buddy of mine who had connections out there,” explained Keeper. “He told me they needed to build their program, which I’ve done in Red Deer, and I should throw my name in.
“I did and they flew me out for a couple of days. I knew they were serious as the flight cost $1,200 plus two days in a hotel. I got the whole tour and they said they’d let me know in a couple of days.
“But I was still at the airport going home when they contacted me and offered me the job, so I took it.”
Keeper had received a couple of pro offers in Europe as well, but was comfortable with the Regina offer.
“They usually give a three-year commitment, but offered me five,” he said. “They said they wanted to give me time to build the program, to get into the playoffs which they missed for the last seven years, and compete for the championship.
“This was also the most secure in terms of the contact and salary and I didn’t have to move overseas with all the unknown stuff going on in Europe right now.
“I thought it was time for a bit of a change and my parents live in Saskatchewan. My dad has Alzheimer's, so it was a good fit family-wise.”
Keeper is actually returning home. He was born and lived in Regina for 10 years before the family moved to Yorkton.
“I lived in Saskatchewan for the first 20 years of my life,” he said.
It was following his junior days that eventually led to his coaching career. He played U Sport with the University of Lethbridge and eventually worked as an assistant coach under Dave Adolphe and former RDC Kings coach Mike Babcock.
“After I finished playing, Dave asked me to come in as an assistant. He was there for a year, then Mike took over for a year.
“Mike asked me at the time if I wanted to coach or teach. I said both, so he said I should look into becoming a head coach then.”
He did just that, coaching the Bantam AAA program in Lethbridge for three years before moving to Japan to coach for three years. Once he returned home, he coached midget AAA in Nanaimo before moving to Red Deer in 2002.
His wife, Sharon, got a position at RDC while Trevor spent eight years at Hunting Hills. He coached the U18AAA Chiefs and worked with the Red Deer Rebels from 2004-08 while also working with Hockey Alberta and Hockey Canada. He coached Team Pacific twice, Team Canada U18 twice, Team Alberta at the Canada Games and spent two years as head coach with the WHL Cup team.
He moved to RDC in 2008.
“I did sessional work for four years before I was hired to coach the Kings, who were returning after being on sabbatical for several years.”
He also coached the Queens while recruiting for the Kings, who returned in the 2013-14 season.
“It took a while to build the program, but I thought we had a good chance to win it in 2019-20, but we were going into the semifinals against MacEwan when Hockey Alberta shut everything down because of Covid.
“We had some older guys, and by the time we were back playing regularly, we had to start rebuilding again to get back on top.”
Keeper did receive a coaching offer from Wilfred Laurier University in 2005-06.
“My daughter was only three and Sharon had a good job so I turned it down. I made a commitment that I’d wait until after (daughter) Steph was out of school and in university (she’s at McGill) before I’d look at moving.”
Sharon won’t be moving right away, although Trevor did indicate he talked with the Dean of Kinesiology and Health Studies, who asked for her resume and indicated there may be a spot opening up for her.
“If that happens, she’ll join me, but not right now.”
Keeper has been extra busy since accepting the Regina job, recruiting for both the Cougars and Kings.
He drove back to Regina this week to work on recruiting.
“I’ve been on the phone non-stop,” he said while driving home on Tuesday.
The Kings don’t need a lot this year. Keeper already has a goalie in place to replace Kristian Lyon, who was the ACAC playoff MVP.
“I lost two defencemen, but we still have seven returning, so while I would like two more, but could get away with one,” he explained. “Up front, we may lose two or three guys. The Haygarth twins are moving on for sure. But I do have two recruits committed.”
As for the Cougars, they have a veteran base, according to Keeper.
“We also are close to signing some good recruits.”
Keeper indicated recruiting has a different look for U Sport.
“One of my assistant coaches has a good handle on the NCAA and there’s several players in the portal who may not be happy down there and feel Regina is a good option.”
With the rule changes, U Sport may lose players from the CHL but gain some top players from junior hockey.
As for who will replace him with the Kings, he has an idea but wouldn’t say.
That should be coming out shortly, and in my opinion, Cody Reynolds, who has been with Keeper for the past 13 years and has coached at the provincial level, would be a perfect candidate.
“All the coaching staff is returning,” said Keeper, who told the older players “to make sure they 4-Peat.”
Danny Rode is a retired Advocate reporter and member of the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame who can be reached at danrode@shaw.ca
