Dutch Canadian returns as coach to Flyers hockey rink

Brian de Bruyn 77 times international

HEERENVEEN - Brian de Bruyn is the new head coach of the Vadeko Flyers, one of the teams in the Dutch professional ice hockey league. He succeeds Leigh Mendelson, an American coach who had been hired as an interim coach.

Canadian-born De Bruyn was a mainstay player of the Flyers in the late 1970s and early 1980s. During those years, he played 77 times for the Dutch national team, thanks to his dual citizenship.

In 2000, De Bruyn was coach of the Dutch national team. Last season, he was behind the bench at the Eppan Pirates, a team in the Italian Second Division.

During his playing years for the Flyers, De Bruyn was a teammate of such stalwarts - and some fellow Dutch Canadians - as Gorden McDonald-peter bol. Mike Kouwenhoven, Tony Collard, Jack de Heer, Robin Sadler, Wayne van Dorp, Jappie de Boer, Nico van Galen Last, Leo Koopmans and Larry van Wieren.