Bruce Thompson returned on Wednesday to the place where some of his fondest memories of Weyburn took place, at the Colosseum.

Thompson was an assistant coach with the Weyburn Red Wings from 1989 to 1993. He will always remember, though, his first season as a 26-year-old coaching with Dwight McMillan, the winningest coach in all of junior hockey.

"We had a great, talented team," Thompson said. "I think we lost only 11 games that season."

During his first season, Thompson and McMillan shared the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League Coach of the Year award. Although they were co-coaches, Thompson described himself as an assistant who was learning and gave much of the credit to McMillan.

Thompson also has fond memories of being behind the bench for playoff games between the Red Wings and Melville Millionaires, including one particular series.

"Melville won game five and I got a five-game suspension for getting into it with their head coach after the game," Thompson said. "We won game six and the rink was packed as we won game seven."

Thompson left the Red Wings after the 1992-1993 season and was hired as the head coach of the Nipawin Hawks. Through this time, he remained friends with McMillan.

"Dwight and I kept in touch even when there was a heated rivalry with Nipawin," Thompson said.

Some of the people he remembers during his time with the Red Wings include Tom Zandee, who was the manager of the Red Wings during Thompson's tenure in Weyburn, and "Mr. Red Wing" Tommy Huston, who died at the age of 93 in July.

"He was such a great person," said Thompson, remembering Huston.

Thompson remained the head coach of the Nipawin Hawks for seven seasons and won his very own Coach of the Year award following the 1997-1998 season.

"I carried what Dwight had taught me and used it when I got to Nipawin and made it our own."

He then coached five seasons with the University of Regina Cougars before giving up coaching to spend more time with his family and take up teaching. Thompson currently resides in Regina where he works as a school teacher in Pilot Butte. He had returned to the Colosseum to give his students the opportunity to interact with the Red Wing players on and off the ice during practice Wednesday.

In 2005, Thompson was recruiting hockey players and was back in Weyburn for the Royal Bank Cup. He was not at the final game, but heard about Weyburn's big win and was very happy for the organization.

"We always looked up at the 1984 banner and to win something like that they had great goaltending and the kids played extremely hard," Thompson said.

Sitting and watching his former team practice, Thompson likes what he sees on the ice this year for the Red Wings and thinks they can only get better with a coach like McMillan.

"They've got a good-sized club and, with the talks I've had with Dwight, the team is getting better after every game," Thompson said.