Alex is entering his first year as Head Coach and General Manager of the Winnipeg Blues.

Born in Calgary, AB, Alex Mandolidis played his junior hockey for the Calgary Canucks and Drayton Valley Thunder of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. Prior to joining the Winnipeg Blues, Alex was an Assistant Coach with the Mount Royal University Men’s hockey program, an Assistant Coach for the Calgary Mustangs and before that served as Head Coach of the U18 AAA Northstars and Flames for two seasons respectively. Alex has also been a Head Coach for several Alberta Cup teams and Video and Assistant Coach with Team Alberta U16 program, earning a Bronze Medal at the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer.

In addition to working with various teams, Alex has completed several coach certification programs, which include: the Hockey Canada/National Coach Certification Program High Performance II,  USA Hockey Level 4, Hockey Alberta High Performance I, and Hockey Canada’s U17 Program of Excellence Seminar. Alex also works on the Mac’s U18 AAA Hockey tournament as one of the Board of Directors.

Over the last decade, Alex has worked with many talented players and coaches, and has helped many players graduate to the Canadian Junior Hockey League, Western Hockey League, National Collegiate Athletic Association, Usports, East Coast Hockey League, American Hockey League, and National Hockey League and continues to work with players at all levels.

Byron enters his second season as an assistant coach.

The Winnipeg product is Bison alumni, having backstopped their program for five seasons. In three of those seasons, he was named the Bison’s most valuable player.

Spriggs also played three seasons for the MJHL’s Winnipeg Blues, winning a league championship and was named playoff MVP in 2014.

Since moving on from playing, Byron has goalie coached at the University of Manitoba for the past 3 seasons, and the past 2 with the Winnipeg ICE. Recently, he was selected to goalie coach with Hockey Canada’s Under 17 program, and to represent Manitoba as a goalie coach at the U16 Canada Games.