Former Shuswap Totems hockey player honored to have rink named after him – Salmon Arm Observer

A former Shuswap Totems hockey player continues to garner praise in the hockey world.

The Totems were Salmon Arm’s first Junior A team, and Tim Coghlin played a prominent role in that inaugural 1982-83 season.

Moving south of the border since then, Coghlin served as head of the St. Norbert’s Division III men’s hockey program at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin for 28 years. His Green Knights have won 600 games and five national championships.

In December 2021, in a special pre-game ceremony, Rink 1 at the Community Center where the teams play was named the Tim Coghlin Rink to honor his legacy.

Salmon Arm’s Gord Mackintosh, who landed the Totems Junior A team for the city and served as general manager, raves about him.

The city was lucky to have Coghlin, he said. Penticton was the dominant team in the league at the time, but Coghlin chose Salmon Arm.

“He was a really good guy. We were very lucky – we were a freshman expansion team, so bringing in a guy like him… He was a natural leader, he was the first team captain .

At that time, the Totems played in the Memorial Arena, now used primarily for football.

Mackintosh said Coghlin was a great ambassador for Salmon Arm and the team, and it was clear he was going to be successful in his career.

Coghlin, who is from Summerland, received the BC Hall of Fame’s Pat Quinn Coaching Award in 2018 for his outstanding success with the St. Norbert varsity team.

He also holds a phenomenal winning record as a coach of 0.771, or 77%.

In a 2014 interview with The Observer, Coghlin said he recruited heavily in British Columbia and stayed in touch with his quartering family and others in Salmon Arm.

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