Clint Mylymok will return to his familiar position behind the bench next season as the head coach of the Jr. A Notre Dame Hounds.

The 42-year-old served as the Whitehorse Minor Hockey Association's head coach this past season.

The Hounds, a member of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, announced the news on their website Friday night.

Mylymok will serve as head coach and general manager of the club, based out of Wilcox, Sask.

He replaces Kevin White.

"I don't look too far ahead career-wise,” said Mylymok. "It's always a constant networking. I always say ‘if you do your job well, people call.'

"For now, this is a really good step for me.”

Mylymok previously worked as an assistant coach with the Hounds in 2011 and 2012, where he helped the team's power play to a league-leading 49 goals.

He also attended school at Athol Murray College of Notre Dame, spending four years with the hockey organization before graduating in 1990.

Mylymok said while he left the Hounds on good terms, the timing of his return caught him by surprise.

"It kind of came up a lot sooner than I thought,” he admitted. "There was a change in the Jr. A program and I got a call.”

He takes control of a team that bowed out of the playoffs this season to the eventual RBC Cup champion Yorkton Terriers.

"They're competitive and my job is to come in and make them more competitive,” said Mylymok. "The goal is to always try and move kids to colleges as well – not just win and be competitive, you want to move kids to the next level.”

Mylymok is a former coach of the year in the Superior International Junior Hockey League for his work with the Dryden Ice Dogs in 2009.

Mylymok's twin brother Jeremy also works at Notre Dame as the male hockey coordinator.

"He's out there recruiting hockey players for the program,” Mylymok said of his brother.

Mylymok was the man the Hounds wanted behind the bench, said Del Pedrick, the high school's director of hockey development.

"We felt he was a good fit for our situation,” said Pedrick. "We targeted him. We wanted a guy who would be actively recruiting, networking and promoting our kids.”

Mylymok is currently in Wilcox attending league meetings, but will return to Whitehorse in time to oversee the Yukon Hockey Academy in July.

WMHA president Carl Burgess said Mylymok did a good job putting a formula for excellence in place.

"We're leveraged for success,” Burgess said. "This time last year, there was no template. There was no development structure for progression for our entire house league.”

Burgess said while Mylymok's legacy will remain, the search for a new WMHA head coach will begin soon.

"He made it easier for all of our coaches to deliver on ice,” Burgess explained. "His job was a combination of on-ice instruction, developing programs in the background and serving the 80-plus volunteer coaches with a coherent program.

"He set a new bar for hockey professionalism for us in the territory,” he added. "He served us all proud.”

Despite his early exit, Mylymok feels he has left the Whitehorse hockey program in good standing.

"I think there's a good template put in place. I think it's really up to the next person to change and tweak it,” he said.

"There's got to be something left behind to enhance and build on, and I think that's been done.”

The Yukon capital can become a hockey hotbed with the right coaching and direction, he added.

"If you raise the expectations, I think there's some very good talent there.”

Mylymok said he truly enjoyed his time in the North.

"I had a blast getting out to the surrounding communities and working in those areas,” he said.

"I'm basically a salesperson and spokesman for Tourism Yukon. I'm telling everyone if they haven't been up, they've got to go up there.”