Coaching Staff

SYLVAIN LEFEBVRE

Head Coach

Sylvain Lefebvre, 47, is in his third season as Head Coach of the Hamilton Bulldogs. Lefebvre spent the past five seasons with the Colorado Avalanche organization, serving as an assistant to Head Coach Joe Sacco with the Avs for three seasons (2009-2012), compiling a record of 114-109-15-8 in 246 regular season games, and two seasons (2007-2009) as Sacco’s assistant coach with the Lake Erie Monsters.

During his 19-year professional career, Lefebvre played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League from 1989-2003. In 945 career NHL regular season games, the Richmond, Quebec native recorded 184 points (30 goals, 154 assists) and 674 penalty minutes. In 129 Stanley Cup Playoff contests, Lefebvre posted 18 points (four goals, 14 assists) and 101 penalty minutes. He won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 1996.

In three seasons with the Montreal Canadiens, Lefebvre played 200 regular season games, producing 53 points (11 goals, 42 assists) and serving 182 penalty minutes. He then appeared in 165 regular season games and 39 Stanley Cup Playoff games with the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1992-1994. After one season with the Quebec Nordiques, Lefebvre followed the team when it moved to Denver, Colorado, where he skated in 303 regular season games and 65-post season games during four seasons with the Avalanche from 1995-1999. Lefebvre then signed with the New York Rangers as a free agent, playing 229 games with that club from 1999-2003. Lefebvre spent his final season as a player with Bern of the Swiss National League in 2003-2004, helping them win the league title.

 

DONALD DUFRESNE
Assistant Coach

Donald Dufresne, 47, is in his third season as an Assistant Coach with the Hamilton Bulldogs. Dufresne began his coaching career with the Rimouski Oceanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League during the 2000-2001 season as an assistant coach before becoming an assistant coach with the Quebec Citadelles of the AHL in 2001-2002. In 80 games with Quebec, he totaled a record of 35-27-15-3, which was good for first in the Canadian Division.

He returned to the Oceanic in 2002-2003 as an assistant coach, then in 2004-2005 helped lead them to a league championship as head coach. After a few years away from the team, Dufresne returned to the Oceanic as assistant coach in 2008-2009 and also held the duties of assistant general manager for four seasons. His total record as a head coach in the QMJHL over 140 games was 79-45-10-6 and total record as an assistant coach in the QMJHL was 151-283-5-6-3 over 348 games.

Dufresne played 268 games over nine seasons in the National Hockey League with the Montreal Canadiens, Tampa Bay Lightning, Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues and Edmonton Oilers. He totalled 42 points (six goals, 36 assists) over his career while winning the Stanley Cup with the Canadiens in 1993. The Quebec City native was originally drafted by Montreal in the sixth round, 117th overall in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft. He played various seasons in the American Hockey League during his professional career with the Sherbrooke Canadiens, Fredericton Canadiens and the Worcester IceCats while playing one season with the Quebec Rafales of the International Hockey League.

In 186 regular season games over six seasons in the AHL, he notched 61 points (13 goals, 48 assists). Dufresne played for the Trois-Rivieres Draveurs and the Longueuil Chevaliers over four seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League during his junior career.

STEPHAN LEBEAU
Assistant Coach

Stephan Lebeau, 46, is in his second season as an Assistant Coach with the Hamilton Bulldogs. Lebeau’s most notable experience as a coach comes from two seasons as head coach for the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Victoriaville Tigres.

Before his tenure with Victoriaville from 2004-2006, Lebeau’s first head coaching role was with the College Champlain Cougars of the Quebec Junior AAA Hockey League. After his time with the Tigres, Lebeau was head coach of the Magog Cantonniers in Quebec Midget AAA from 2006-2008, then head coach for Bishop’s College School from 2008-2013.

Before going behind the bench, Lebeau had a prolific professional playing career in the National Hockey League, American Hockey League and Swiss leagues. After a dominant junior career that saw the centre notch 271 goals and 299 assists in 270 games with the Shawinigan Cataractes, Lebeau developed as a professional in the Montreal Canadiens organization.

In his only full AHL season in 1988-1989, Lebeau set a league record for goals in a single season with 70 and finished with 134 points, which was a league record at the time and currently stands as second most all-time in a single season.

He moved on to play six full seasons in the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens and Anaheim Mighty Ducks, winning a Stanley Cup Championship in 1993 with Montreal. He then played six seasons in Switzerland, leading its top National League in assists with 47 and points with 67 in 1999-2000.