The Prince Albert Mintos introduced Dion Antisin as the club's new head coach on May 23. An undated photo shows Antisin watching the play during a game while coaching the Bodens HF J20 (U20) regional club in northeastern Sweden, where he's spent the past two seasons. (@PA_Mintos/X)

By Logan Lehmann

AAA Hockey

Mintos’ Antisin excited to be back in North America, and in Prince Albert

Jun 6, 2025 | 12:00 PM

The newest face at the helm for the Prince Albert Mintos says he’s happy to be here and eager to get to work.

Newly-named Head Coach Dion Antisin is settling into his new home in Prince Albert after coaching for two seasons in Sweden. He told paNOW that one of his driving factors in moving back to North America was because his family grew a little bit bigger earlier this year.

“It was a family reason actually, I just had a kid,” he said, adding he named his son Benson. “[We’ve] been thinking about it for about a year since we found out last August, it’s kind of been the idea. I want to be close to family, [and] I want to be close to the roots I was a part of.”

Hailing from Kelowna, Antisin said he’s always grown up around hockey as his dad was a pro. He and his family frequently moved back and forth between Canada and Switzerland, where his dad spent his playing career.

“I lived that way for the first 10 years of my life, and I thought that was pretty normal. But looking back now, it was a very exceptional thing that not everybody gets to be around,” he explained. “It was really cool in the sense that I was kind of forced into it, to love hockey and be a part of hockey. But you know, I’ve grown up every day loving the sport and continue to love it to this day.”

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After growing up playing youth hockey in Switzerland, he moved back to Canada to play at Notre Dame in Wilcox, Sask. where he played U18 and Jr. A until going to college in the U.S. in Wisconsin and Nevada. He had a brief stint playing pro in Minnesota before following in his father’s footsteps by heading back to Switzerland to play pro, which he did for two seasons.

When his playing career was over, he came back to Saskatchewan as a coach at Notre Dame for four seasons, before jumping back over the pond to Sweden where he’s spent the past two years. Now in Prince Albert, Antisin said he’s looking to bring pieces of what he’s learned in Europe back to Hockeytown North.

“I also want to bring back that, that European mentality from hockey. I mean, you look at Sweden at the World Juniors and the national team, they have a population that’s a tenth of what Canada has, but they’re able to compete at both levels of hockey. I want to bring back those small skills that a lot of European players have at higher levels, like the Canadian players, they play more of a rough, physical, aggressive style and the Europeans are a lot of finesse and style like that, and that’s what I want to bring in a bit.”

As coach of the Mintos, Antisin and his team will spend some time on the road this season that includes a couple of trips to his old stomping grounds at Notre Dame in Wilcox, dates he’ll have circled on the calendar.

“Oh, I’m very excited about that. The place I called home forever… for 6-7 years and it’s fun to be able to go back. You take those games a little more personally, but I’m very excited to be going back to the Duncan McNeil Arena and maybe being the bad guy for a little.”

As for the upcoming season, Antisin is chomping at the bit to drop the puck and has already been getting after his coaching duties.

“I’ve been talking a lot with [GM] Dennis Pott and we’ve been discussing individual players a lot, just so I’m certain of what I’m getting and what kind of a team we’re going to have. Whether it’s going to be a small fast team or a big strong team – I’m trying to play to that team strength. Right now, I’m just trying to figure out what kind of style this team is going to be [and] what the identity is going to be.”

He added the team will be on the younger side this season, so some growing pains are expected, and hopes to create some good habits for the Mintos this season.

Last season, the Mintos finished eighth in the Sask. Male AAA Hockey League (SMAAAHL) standings and lost out of the playoffs in the first round to the eventual provincial and Telus Cup (National) Champion Regina Pat Canadians. The first-round exit marked the fourth consecutive for the club, dating back to the 2021-22 season.

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com

On Bluesky: @loganlehmann.bsky.social