One year removed from a CEBL finals appearance, the Calgary Surge have gotten off to a nightmare start in 2026. Currently sitting with a league worst 0-7 record on the year, the club announced this week that they would be parting ways with head coach Perry Huang.
“Our organization remains focused on competing at the highest level and experiencing the success we’re accustomed to,” said Team President, Dylan Howe. “We believe the change in direction allows us to move forward in pursuit of those goals.”
The team has not yet officially announced a replacement for Huang, simply stating that “Information regarding coaching responsibilities will be communicated at a later date”. Huang has been scrubbed from the team website, without any updates to the coaching section. It’s currently unclear what General Manager Shane James or Senior Advisor Steve Konchalski plan to do for the team’s upcoming game vs. the Saskatoon Mamba on Wednesday evening.
Huang joined the team this season following a stint as an assistant coach for the South Bay Lakers, the NBA G-League affiliate of Los Angeles. In what amounted to his first foray into being a head coach at the professional level, Huang’s team limped out of the gates as they posted a -70 point differential to start the year.
In what was branded as an “All Gas, No Brakes” approach to the 2026 campaign, the Surge have struggled to find any kind of consistency on the court since Huang took over for Kaleb Canales in March. The now departed coach joined the team with a full endorsement from the front office following an extensive offseason search.
“We interviewed a lot of high level candidates, mostly from the NBA,” James said. “With Perry, after we interviewed him for the first time, we knew right away, he was our guy. He’s been a winner everywhere he’s gone, winning WNBA championships, G-league championships, he checked all the boxes for us.”
Despite that support, it was evident as the season wore on that the respected WNBA/NBA assistant was having trouble connecting with his players north of the border. As a result, Surge fans will tune into Wednesday night’s contest at the WinSport Event Centre wondering who will be on the sidelines for their team.
Whether Wednesday’s coaching staff will represent a long term, interim, or simply a “band-aid” solution for the team remains to be seen.
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