Written by Judd Spicer

For new Firebirds’ assistant coach Brennan Sonne, it’s now Christmastime all the time.

Wise and worldly at just 37-years-old, the well-traveled native of Maple Ridge, B.C. eyes his new ‘Birds’ post as something of a homecoming.

Hired to new head coach Derek Laxdal’s staff in mid-July, Sonne (pronounced “SAH-nee”) comes to the desert with a flush passport, having coached across a trio of continents.

“It’s been six country moves over the last 11 or 12 years,” says Sonne, whose coaching career was preceded by 149 games played in Canada’s Western Hockey League. “But, I think it’s all been invaluable; the personal growth and experiences. I’m a big believer in travel, and it’s been amazing to see these other cultures, try their food, see how other people live. Because there’s a lot of cool stuff out there.”

Following a year of coaching in Hong Kong (“All the rinks there are in shopping malls, so that was interesting,” the coach smiles), Sonne was in France for four seasons (2017-21) as head coach of Ducs d’Angers in the Syberglace Ligue Magnus.

“We were southeast of Paris; about an hour-and-a-half towards the Atlantic Coast,” Sonne recalls of his time the country’s top league, amply filled with former AHL and NHLers. “‘The Valley of the Kings,’ as it’s called; so, if you think of the castle from Beauty and the Beast, it’s about 45-minutes away. Just a beautiful place with so much history, and the food . . . oh my God.”

After his time abroad, Sonne returned to his native Canada, where his three seasons as frontman of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades resulted in a 136-54-14 mark and a trio of postseason appearances.

His bench star on the rise, Sonne began seeking grounding as much as sought hardware. Referencing a stretch last season when assistant coaching Canada’s gold-medal winning U-17 World Hockey Challenge team and the Blades put him on the road for over a month straight, the new dad took a closer look at his family whiteboard.

“Even though my Blades’ team was the best in the league and we won that U-17 gold medal, I mean, I’d never felt lower,” Sonne candors. “It was really difficult being away for that long from my daughter. I mean, what do we want to do as people? We want to be good dads; we want to be good men; and, as a coach, we want to teach the players we’re working with and model that behavior.”

Such modeling was soon to find an ideal coalescence. Sonne’s in-laws have been longtime desert snowbirds, and when opportunity arose to pair family grounding with flying ‘Birds, the coach was fast to answer the call.

“My wife’s parents have had a place in Desert Hot Springs for a number of years,” Sonne says, “and I’ve been down here multiple times, probably three or four times during Christmas.” 

Word of the ‘Birds has fluttered across the family tree since the team’s ’22 debut.

“Oh, yeah. My in-laws go to games, people in their neighborhood are season ticket holders,” says Sonne. “The Firebirds are something that’s been chatted about around our house a lot.”

His own holiday-time experiences in the desert alerted Sonne to the allure of an ecosystem switch to desert’s peak-season.

“We came down here two years ago for Christmas, and I was playing some golf on December 22,” he recalls. “And, where I was coming from in Saskatoon, there was snow on the ground from October until the end of April. So, going from minus-40 (Celsius) to being on a golf course . . . yeah, pretty special.”

Not that the trip was all birdies. Says Sonne with a half-grin:

“When I was here two years’ ago, I was trying to finagle some Firebirds’ tickets and that didn’t happen.” 

Combining quality-of-work with quality-of-life finds Sonne on the family forecheck.

“As a family, it’s almost like a dream,” he smiles. “Even if you take out the hockey side, I mean, my daughter is almost 16-months old and has lived in Saskatoon; but all our family is from the west coast (of Canada), and we’ve moved all over. And we’ve talked about: ‘How often in my daughter’s life is she gonna’ get to live in the same place as her grandparents, whether it’s my parents or my in-laws?’”

As the Firebirds’ third season gets underway, Sonne is finding new balance being the leader of grown men, and being an ever-present father to his little girl.

“As a dad, my top priority is being a dad – and it always will be. Family first,” he says. “So being here with my wife and having this support system and my daughter having her grandparents – it’s so rare in the job I’m in. It’s important to have that grounding. For it to come to fruition, it’s almost like a dream for me to be pursuing my goals and values and to also feel like I’m being a good dad.”

No longer in need of Acrisure tickets, Sonne eyes a season of family in the stands. Well, most of the brood, anyway. “My wife will come to games, and one grandparent at a time,” he concludes. “Somebody’s got to stay home and put my daughter down for bed.”