The Prairie Hockey Academy has their man for the rest of the season and he brings a ton of experience with him.

Long-time WHL coach Lorne Molleken was hired by the local hockey program as the head coach of the Elite 15 Cougars for the remainder of the 2018/19 Canadian Sport School Hockey League season.

"It's a bit of a different role for me, as far as teaching and coaching younger players at the age of 15, but I look forward to it and working with the players and the rest of the coaching staff," Molleken told DiscoverMooseJaw.com on Friday.

PHA is in their second season of operation but its first as a member of the CSSHL. The Elite 15 Cougars parted ways with the program's first head coach Rodney MacPhee in October.

The team has used Director of Hockey Operations Scott King and assistant coach Micah Abbott since the coaching change.

PHA President Justin Simpkins stated in a media release that the program is excited to add a coach with a track record like Molleken's in place for the rest of the season.

"To have the chance to bring someone of Lorne's experience into the academy and work alongside him is an incredible honour and privilege. All of us will benefit from his insight and mentorship," stated Simpkins.

Molleken most recently was the head coach of the Vancouver Giants during the 2015-16 season. That came after a lengthy tenure with the Saskatoon Blades where he served as head coach for nine seasons from 2004-13, including hosting the Memorial Cup in 2013.

He's also been a head coach in the NHL and AHL.

The Regina product is excited about the opportunity in front of him at Saskatchewan's first Hockey Canada Sport School, which is based out of Caronport.

"The biggest thing is that the team has played extremely well this year, so my plan is to come in and reinforce the things that they already have in place and do whatever I can to help these young men become players and better people off the ice," said Molleken.

"It's a different age group as far as my coaching experience goes, but hopefully I'll be able to add to the program and help everybody out as much as possible."

The Cougars currently sit fourth in the CSSHL’s Elite 15 Division, but they went into the break riding a four-game winning streak, which included beating the first place Burnaby Winter Club, 3-2 in overtime, in their final game before Christmas.

Molleken said there's plenty of talent on the PHA roster and he's excited to see where they can go together.

"I had an opportunity to watch them practice once and the way that they practiced, they practiced extremely hard and extremely fast, so in talking to the other coaches, that’s something that they strive to do and have done a pretty good job at it to this point," said Molleken.

"For the next two-three months, I'll do whatever I can to help them achieve their goals and help the program in any way that I can."

The Cougars will return to the ice coming up next weekend when they host the inaugural Prairie Classic from Jan. 4-6, 2019 at the Barkman Arena.