Red Deer Rebels owner/president/general manager Brent Sutter has replaced Jesse Wallin as head coach.
The announcement was made this morning. Sutter will serve as the club’s interim head coach and will be joined on the bench by Jeff Truitt, who comes in as an associate coach.
Truitt has a lengthy history of coaching in the Western Hockey League and was an associate coach with the 2004 Memorial Cup champion Kelowna Rockets. He was the head coach of the Rockets for three seasons — starting in the fall of 2004 — and was also the Moose Jaw Warriors director of hockey operations in 2009-10.
Truitt also served as an assistant and head coach with Springfield of the American Hockey League and was an assistant with San Antonio and Texas of the AHL the past two seasons.
Wallin was in his fifth season as head coach of the Rebels and was an assistant and associate coach with the club for the two seasons prior. He played with the Rebels from 1994-98 before embarking on a six-year professional career.