For Saturday's 10-1 win over the Grande Prairie Storm wasn't just a big win for the Okotoks Oilers to stay in a tight South Division race... but was also the 200th career win behind the bench for Head Coach and General Manager James Poole.

This is the 6th season of coaching for Poole leading the Green and Gold with an impressive 200-91-25 record as of Saturday.

The Calgary native and former AMHL and Macs Midget Tournament champion coach says it's been quite the ride from win 1 to win 200.

"Seems it was just like yesterday starting here to a certain degree," he says. "It's been enjoyable coaching here and this year in the short term focus I think its an up and down year at time but it's enjoyable coming to the rink right now with the group we have, we see them getting better and better and peaking into where we think we can get this team can get to."

When asked about the exact moment when he decided to become a hockey coach, Poole says it really began while playing hockey at Lake Forest College.

"I was fortunate to have some good coaches growing up through minor hockey and going to college you know I just I thought the coaching could have been done so much better to be  perfectly honest," he chuckled. "I think that was what the itch became, I always thought of myself as a pretty smart player that understood the game, understood the little things it took to win hockey games."

Since then Poole has won the South Division in his time with the Oilers, along with Coach of the Year nominations and setting numerous team records.

He says it's been quite the journey to get where he is now.

"Looking back to my first year coaching Midget AA in Calgary, to see where we've gone as a coaching staff with Derek Stuart and Bobby Fox to see where we're at now is night and day in things we've learned along the way," he says. "Been an enjoyable ride and hope to keep it going for many more years."

Coach Poole will look for win #201 at home vs his Oiler rivals the Brooks Bandits Thursday night.