Missoula Junior Bruins hire Cook has new Head Coach/GM
April 12, 2018
The Missoula Jr. Bruins of the NA3HL are proud to announce the hiring of Cliff Cook as the second Head Coach and General Manager in franchise history.
Coach Cook brings 39+ years of hockey knowledge, including over 20 years of coaching and instructing at all ages. Last season he was Associate Head Coach and Director of Player Development for the Dallas Blackhawks Elite 18U NAPHL Tier I. Prior to that Coach Cook worked with the Pikes Peak Miners 16U and 18U in the NAPHL and in the five seasons prior to that he coached at the junior level with the Texas Brahmas and New Mexico Renegades of the Western States Hockey League, the 2013-14 Minnesota Junior Hockey League Bush Cup Champion Marquette Royales and the 2014-15 USPHL Champion and USA Hockey National Runner-Up New York Aviators.
In his five seasons coaching at the junior level (head and associate head coach), Coach Cook compiled a 154-87-9 record, including 83-22-2 in his final two seasons which also included the 2015 USPHL Championship and National Runner-Up and the 2014 MnJHL Championship and USA Hockey National Tournament appearance.
As a player, Coach Cook grew up playing in Dallas, TX. After starting his youth hockey career in 1979, playing youth hockey in the D/FW Metroplex for 13 years for the original Dallas Blackhawks, he left for Lake Placid, NY in 1992 and the hockey prep power Northwood School to finish the final three years of his high school career.
After Northwood, Cook headed to Iowa State University, but he wouldn’t be there long and in 1997 he signed with the Central Hockey League’s Oklahoma City Blazers. But his career would be cut short by injury, in fact he was never able to register a regular season game appearance despite three seasons of moving around the CHL and Western Professional Hockey Leagues.
As his playing days appeared over, and although he was still under contract to play, in 1997-98 he began coaching high school hockey in Oklahoma, his first official coaching job. Since then he has coached PeeWee, Bantam, Midget and Junior age groups.
Along with his coaching background, Coach Cook has also worked with the Laura Stamm Power Skating School, Pro Ambitions Hockey Camp, Player’s Edge Prep Camps and was previously the Associate Head Hockey Instructor for the Dr. Pepper Starcenter-Valley Ranch, TX from 1998-2001 and again worked as a hockey and power skating instructor for the Dr. Pepper Starcenter-Farmers Branch, TX from 2007-2009 (named Hockey Programs Manager in 2008).
