One of the best ways to quantify the impact of a hockey coach is by how many times they step behind a bench.  

In a vocation where longevity is rare, success can take many shapes. For long-time Warriors men's hockey head coach Brian Bourque, success means empowering his student-athletes to be their best on the ice, in the classroom, and after graduation. And, because Bourque has consistently delivered on that vision for the past two decades, he's achieved a massive career milestone: on Friday, October 10, Bourque stepped behind the Warriors bench for the 500th time in his storied tenure.  

500 games is a long way from August of 2005, when Bourque was named head coach of the Warriors. Back then, 500 games might as well have been ten thousand, and like many newly-minted coaches, Bourque's areas of focus were much more immediate. From 2003-05, Bourque had served as an assistant coach under his predecessor and mentor, Karl Taylor. The pair had revitalized a fledgling program in such a rapid turnaround that Taylor graduated to the pro ranks, where he's been ever since – Taylor is now the bench boss of the AHL's Milwaukee Admirals.  

If anyone questioned whether Bourque could keep the program's trajectory pointed upward, they were quieted almost instantly. In his first season, the Warriors were among the OUA's top teams with a 15-6-3-0 record. The next season, they were a 21-win powerhouse. And in both 2007 and 2010, Bourque was named the OUA coach of the year. 

In 2013, Bourque led the Warriors to an OUA West title, and their first appearance in the Queen's Cup since 1996. The black and gold also earned a trip to the University Cup national championship tournament, where they knocked off the top-seeded Alberta Golden Bears. Bourque became the winningest coach in program history in 2018, with a total of 252 career wins to date.  

Bourque's accomplishments at Waterloo also earned him the chance to represent his country at two FISU World University Games. As an assistant coach with Team Canada in 2011, and in the dual role of assistant coach and general manager in 2017, he earned a pair of bronze medals on the world stage. 

But his on-ice accomplishments are only part of Bourque's legacy. The Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia native was a math and physical education teacher before he was a full-time hockey coach, and the academic achievements of the Warriors have always been a top priority for the program's leader. Under Bourque's watch, the team academic average has skyrocketed over 10 percentage points, and hundreds of Warriors have earned Academic All-Canadian honours over the past two decades. 

A father of four daughters who all played hockey at a young age, Bourque also saw some of the gaps and inequities in girls' minor hockey, and used his position to help narrow them. For well over a decade, the Warriors have run regular weekly camps with the Waterloo Ravens Girls Hockey Association, including learn-to-skate programs, coaching clinics, and on-ice instruction for Ravens teams, all staffed by men's and women's varsity hockey players. Bourque also helped create a weekly instructional camp for women who want to sharpen their skills and keep enjoying the game as adults. 

In addition to his demanding role with the hockey team, Bourque has impacted the direction of Warriors athletics across all varsity sports, as he added the title of Associate Director, Athletics to his portfolio back in 2015. "Brian has created a culture that prioritized both academics and athletics along with other components of a high performance program that I felt could be replicated throughout Warriors Athletics," cited Director of Athletics & Recreation, Roly Webster. Since then, Bourque has been integral in improving the student-athlete experience, spearheading efforts around mental performance training, strength and conditioning, and peer mentorship amongst varsity athletes. 

As a coach and a person, Bourque is a master communicator. He has a talent for knowing what resonates with each one of his student-athletes, and readily refutes a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to leading a team of 25-plus hockey players. And then, there's the video work. If the late NHL coaching legend Roger Neilson is the father of video coaching, Bourque is amongst his strongest disciples. As the clock flips from night to morning after a Warriors game, it's a good bet that Bourque will be attentively hovered over the dim light of his laptop screen, as he cuts clips for the next morning's video session with the team.  

The wins, the academic averages, and the community impact are almost immeasurable, but the last person you'd hear it from is Bourque himself. He's a humble, measured person; self-acclaim is not part of the east coast ethos. But, a wry sense of humor certainly is, and Bourque has a Maritimer's way with words that can both deliver a point and crack a smile at the same time. Bourque's also a tireless worker, who puts as much effort into coaching one of his kids' minor hockey teams as he does the Warriors. Sleep doesn't seem to be much of a requisite for Bourque, but perhaps he has a bit of help in that regard – at any given time, it's likely that his desk (or his hand) will be populated with an extra-large black coffee.  

When Bourque joined the Warriors coaching staff as an assistant, he and his wife Lisa had two daughters, with a third on the way. Today, as he surpasses 500 games as head coach, the Bourque's' four children, Kennedy, Maddy, Emma, and Chelsey, are all young adults. Along with Lisa, the quintet of Bourque women have become an indelible part of the program as well, just as hundreds of student-athletes have become honorary Bourques. In fact, this weekend, the family will host their annual thanksgiving dinner, open to any players who are too far from home to return for the holidays. 

If longevity is, indeed, a way to measure success, 500 games coached is an incredible milestone worth celebrating. But sometime in the future, when Bourque is enshrined in the Warriors Athletics Hall of Fame, the numbers on his plaque will only tell one part of Bourque's story. The whole tale will be told by the hundreds of students-athletes and members of the Waterloo community that has felt the positive impact of Brian Bourque's wisdom and presence for the last 20 years – and the next 20, if we're all lucky. 

For alumni, staff, and friends of the program: To acknowledge the milestone, the staff felt it would be fitting to have Alumni and Friends of the program leave a written message for Coach Bourque. It could be a quick congratulations, a longer story/memory of your time with Brian and the program, and/or your favorite quote of Brian's from your time here at Warrior Hockey. The staff is planning to compile these messages and create a book to present to Brian as a gift that he can pick up and read when he takes a break from breaking down a penalty kill or adding music to highlight videos for the players. Please leave your message here, along with your name and time with/affiliation to the program, and we will get the notes to Coach Bourque. Thanks for taking some time to acknowledge this outstanding milestone.

Thank you
Warrior Hockey Staff