Ken Babey
Hockey Builder - Inducted 2020
In his nearly three decades behind the bench of the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) Trojans men’s hockey team, Ken Babey guided the team to unparalleled success on and off the ice while becoming the most successful coach in Canadian post-secondary hockey history. From 1987-2014, Ken picked up a total of 534 regulation and playoff wins, nine Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) championships, seven ACAC Coach of the Year awards, one Canadian College Athletic Association (CCAA) title (2000), and two CCAA silver medals (1992 and 1997). He also set over 15 ACAC career coaching records. After stepping away from the game in 2014, Ken was recruited to lead the Canadian men’s para ice hockey team. Under his guidance, the team won world championship silver in 2015 and 2019, gold in 2017, and silver at the 2018 Paralympic Games.
Ken joined the SAIT Trojans as an assistant coach in 1986 and was named the head coach the following summer. Within five years of taking the reins, the Trojans went from cellar dwellers to perennial powerhouses. In his 27 seasons behind SAIT’s bench, the Trojans made 23 playoff appearances (including 20 consecutive), 10 first place finishes, and nine conference titles.
In June 2014, Ken announced he was stepping down as the Trojans coach, walking away with a career winning percentage of .681.
Following a brief retirement, Ken was recruited to step behind the bench of the national men’s para ice hockey (previously known as sledge hockey) team. It didn’t take long for him to make his mark - the team took back-to-back silver medals at the world championships in 2015 and 2016 before winning gold at the 2017 championships in South Korea. At the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, Ken led Team Canada to the gold medal game, where they lost 2-1 to the United States in overtime.
Ken was previously inducted into the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame in 2015.
