Mike Sirant was a member of the Bisons men's hockey program, as a coach and player, for over 30 seasons.
Sirant, who earned a Masters Degree in Sports Management, and two Bachelor Degrees (Recreation Management, Arts) from the University of Manitoba, was the winningest head coach in the history of the program, with 332 conference regular season wins entering the second half of 2022-23 conference play.
Sirant’s first season as head coach of the Bisons came in 1993-94. Just two years later, he guided the program to the divisional final, after a 16-win regular season. He was named Canada West Coach of the Year that year as well, the first of three times Sirant accomplished the feat. In the other two occasions (2004-05, 2009-10), the Herd advanced to the University Cup, finishing 1-1 in both occasions.
Overall, 21 of Sirant’s Bisons-coached teams reached the playoffs, including a run from 1996-2001 where every group reached the conference final.
Sirant’s coaching experience extends worldwide. In 1999-2000, while on a professional development leave, Sirant coached VEU FeldKirch (Austria) to a successful season in the International Eishockey League. He has also served as a guest coach at NHL training camps for the Nashville Predators and St. Louis Blues.
Additionally, Sirant had a three-year professional development leave from the University of Manitoba (2006-09) during which he was the Sports Director and Head Coach of the Danish National Men’s Ice Hockey Team.
While with the Danish National Team, Sirant guided the program to a tenth-place finish at the 2007 World A Pool Championship in Moscow and a 12th place finish at the 2008 World Championship in Quebec City. At the time, the tenth-place result was the highest position ever for the Danish team at the World Championship.
In 2015, Sirant served as an assistant coach for the CIS National All-Star team that competed in the inaugural series against Canada’s National Junior team. The Winnipeg native was also an associate coach for the bronze medal Team Canada men’s hockey team at the Winter Universiade (World Student Games) that same year in Spain. He was also in the coaching staff for the 2019 Universiade in Russia and had the honour of serving as head coach for Canada's National Student team, which won a bronze medal at the 1997 Winter Universiade in South Korea.
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