A tremendous amount of experience is now behind the bench for the RINK Hockey Academy Female U18 prep team.

The team announced that Garrett Festerling is the new head coach while Abby Cook is the new assistant coach.

Festerling brings more than 30 years and nearly 800 games of experience, playing all over North America and internationally. Prior to his professional career, be played in the BCHL and won the championship with the Vernon Vipers. He also played four years in the WHL for the Portland Winterhawks and Regina Pats. 

Professionally, he played 15 seasons in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).

Also behind the bench is Abby Cook, who's coming off playing in the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL)'s inaugural season. Cook potted two goals in 18 games and also made history in the league as she was involved in the first trade in PWHL history. 

Before her PWHL days, Cook played four years at Pursuit of Excellence (POE) in Kelowna and then went on to become the highest-scoring defenceman at Boston University with 99 points, becoming a three-time Hockey East all-star. She also played internationally, in Sweden and Switzerland.

These moves come after head coach Kris Hogg left RINK after nine seasons for an NCAA opportunity.