Mark Howell was appointed the eighth head coach in Dinos Hockey history on June 3, 2009.

Howell joined the Dinos with extensive experience as both a coach and general manager at the junior and midget levels, most recently with the Westside Warriors of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL).

Howell played three seasons in the Western Hockey League with the Seattle Thunderbirds and Medicine Hat Tigers before moving to Red Deer College, where he played for Mike Babcock. He spent one season with the University of Alberta Golden Bears, winning the 1992 University Cup title, before injuries forced him to retire.

The Red Deer native began his coaching career at the midget level while working as an officer with the Calgary Police Service, working with the Calgary Buffaloes. He spent two seasons as an assistant with the SAIT Trojans before eventually taking over as head coach of the Calgary Midget ‘AAA’ Flames for the 1999-2000 and 2000-01 seasons. From there he moved to Brandon to become an assistant coach with the WHL’s Wheat Kings for two seasons.

In 2003 Howell moved to Drayton Valley to become head coach and general manager of the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Thunder, where he posted a .625 winning percentage in three seasons. In 2006 he became the first head coach of the Westside Warriors, adding GM duties in 2008. The Warriors posted a franchise-best 40-17-3 (.635) record in the 2007-08 season, reaching the BCHL’s Interior Conference final.

Howell also has experience at the provincial and national team levels, including a stint as head coach of Team Alberta for the 2007 Canada Winter Games, winning a bronze medal. He was an assistant/video coach with the Canadian men’s national team at the 2000 IIHF World Championships, fulfilling the same role for Hockey Canada at three consecutive World Junior Championships in 2000, 2001, and 2002. Howell has twice represented Canada at FISU Winter World University Games, including 2023 when they captured gold in Lake Placid, New York.

In his first season with the Dinos, Howell led them to a 13-9-6 record and a playoff appearance. In 2010-11, the Dinos finished in second place at 17-8-3, hosted the Canada West semi-final for the first time since 1997, and made the program’s first U SPORTS University Cup appearance since 2000. Howell was named the Canada West and U SPORTS coach of the year. Since then, Howell has led the Dinos to five more appearances in the conference final and three trips to the University Cup. In 2023, Howell was again named the conference and national coach of the year and led Calgary to a program-record 25 wins, a CW-record 23 consecutive regular season wins, and the program’s first Canada West championship since 1996.