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Giants extend Hay, Bonner

General manager Scott Bonner and head coach Don Hay both agreed to five-year contracts with the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League on Thursday.

VANCOUVER — General manager Scott Bonner and head coach Don Hay both agreed to five-year contracts with the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League on Thursday.

Both men are signed through the 2014-15 season.

“Maintaining stability and continuity in a franchise is essential to success in the WHL,” Giants owner Ron Toigo said in a statement.

Bonner, who also is the team’s executive vice-president, has been the Giant’s GM since the club’s inaugural season in 2001. Under his watch the organization has won five consecutive BC division titles, a WHL Championship in 2006, and the Memorial Cup in 2007.

“I’m excited to continue working for the Giants as I take a lot of pride in what we’ve accomplished here,” Bonner said in a release. “This extension provides me and my family the stability to know where we will be for the next number of years which was extremely important for me, as was continuing the challenge of being part of a winning organization.”

The upcoming season will be Bonner’s 25th in the WHL. Prior to joining the Giants he worked for the New Westminster Bruins and Tri-City Americans organization as a scout.

Hay, the fourth winningest coach in WHL history, is entering his sixth season with the Giants. He is a two-time WHL Coach of the Year and a member of the BC Hockey Hall of Fame.

Hay is also the only coach in CHL history to win three Memorial Cups as a head coach, twice with Kamloops in 1995 and 1995 and with Vancouver in 2007.