NAIT Men's Hockey head coach Tim Fragle will be leaving the program to become the general manager and head coach of the Trail Smoke Eaters of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). Fragle coached the Ooks for the past 4 seasons capturing 3 silver medals and guided this year's team to a regular season first place finish (24-4) before the season was cut short do to COVID-19. This season also saw Tim capture the ACAC men's hockey coach of the year award. 

Prior to joining NAIT, Fragle served 7 seasons as the General Manager & Head Coach of the Sherwood Park Crusaders Junior A Hockey Team of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL). Coach Fragle has been involved with Hockey Canada and has had extensive experience in the area of player development serving as the Associate Director at Vimy Ridge Academy Hockey Program from 2004 to 2016.

Graduating with a Business Management diploma at NAIT,  Tim played on the Men's Hockey team for four years and was the team's captain for the final two seasons. 

"I would like to thank NAIT Athletics for the opportunity to coach the Men's Hockey program over the past 4 years and it was an absolute pleasure to work with all the student athletes and staff," Fragle commented. "The Trail Smoke Eaters franchise is rich with history and is trending in a positive direction and the opportunity to work with and for good people excites our family."

NAIT Athletics manager Jordan Richey had this to say about the former Ooks men's hockey bench boss.

"This is a great opportunity and challenge for Tim and his family. The NAIT Athletic department would like to thank Tim for his time, leadership, and dedication to the program for the past 4 years. Tim is a tremendous coach with a promising future and I would personally like to wish him and his family the best of luck with this next chapter in their lives."

Current full-time assistant coach Scott Fellnermayr has been named interim NAIT men's hockey head coach for the 2020-21 season.