Vancouver Goldeneyes part ways with head coach Brian Idalski after 1 season

Another coach of a PWHL expansion team has been let go.

On Monday, the Vancouver Goldeneyes announced a “change at the head coaching position,” parting ways with Brian Idalski after just one season.

“As we conclude our inaugural season and evaluate the future direction of the organization, we have made the decision to make a change at the head coaching position,” Goldeneyes general manager Cara Gardner Morey said in a statement. “We thank Brian for his professionalism and commitment to the Vancouver Goldeneyes and wish him all the best moving forward.”

Idalski was hired in June 2025 as the Goldeneyes’ first head coach. He had two decades of experience in women’s hockey, including at the pro level and with the Chinese women’s team at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

The Goldeneyes joined the PWHL last season along with the Seattle Torrent in the league’s first wave of expansion. Vancouver looked like the team to beat with a roster stacked with talent, led by Sarah Nurse and Sophie Jaques. But the Goldeneyes struggled in their inaugural season, finishing sixth in the league standings. They were the second team eliminated from playoff contention, just days after Seattle.

Vancouver’s roster greatly underperformed expectations, and very few Goldeneyes players matched or improved upon their production from last season. In fact, when The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn first launched his PWHL data model, Vancouver had the deepest offensive roster in the league, with a 12.9 offensive rating — 10 full points more than the next-best team, the eventual champion Montreal Victoire (2.2). Vancouver’s preseason expected win percentage (.560) was also among the highest in the league, but in reality it was nowhere close with a .411 percent win rate.

Throughout the season, Idalski talked a lot about wanting Vancouver to be difficult to play against with a strong on-ice identity, much like his college team. But that style didn’t really translate for Vancouver, which looked like it lacked direction at times during the season.

Vancouver won’t be alone in its coaching search. Last month, the Seattle Torrent announced the team had parted ways with head coach Steve O’Rourke after a similarly disappointing inaugural season, finishing last with just eight wins. Vancouver, however, won the No. 1 pick in the 2026 PWHL Draft via the league’s “Gold Plan,” and secured the right to draft generational defender Caroline Harvey later this month.

The Toronto Sceptres and Boston Fleet also currently have vacancies at the head coach position after Troy Ryan (San Jose) and Kris Sparre (Hamilton) accepted jobs with the league’s new expansion teams. Las Vegas has yet to announce its head coach.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

Vancouver Goldeneyes, NHL, Women’s Hockey

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