By Derek Harper
Despite it being the offseason for major junior hockey, news continues to flow.
The WHL’s Wenatchee Wild announced the hiring of a new head coach and a familiar one to the WHL circle. It was made official on Wednesday, July 11 that the Wild have hired Don Nachbaur as their new head coach.
Prior to joining the Wild, Nachbaur spent time as an assistant coach for the Calgary Flames’ AHL affiliate, the Stockton Heat who later moved to Calgary and became the Wranglers.
Nachbaur is a proven winner at the WHL level with the many years he’s previously spent in the league.
He has 19 seasons of head coaching experience in the WHL. This includes time with the Seattle Thunderbirds, Tri-City Americans and Spokane Chiefs. The third-winningest head coach in WHL history, Nachbaur enters the season with 692 career wins in the league and three Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophies as the league’s Coach of the Year. He’s the only coach in Canadian Hockey League history to earn Coach of the Year honors for three different CHL teams.
It should be noted the Nachbaur family isn’t unfamiliar with the Wild organization. Don’s son Daniel played for the Wild for the 2015-16 season during their Junior-A days. He went on to have a four-year collegiate career at UMASS-Boston.
In a press release, Nachbaur was grateful and excited to take the reigns as head coach for the Wild.
“I am very grateful for the opportunity presented to me by the Wenatchee Wild and look forward to being back in the Western Hockey League,” Nachbaur said. “I would like to thank the team’s owners, Mr. & Mrs. White, and general manager Bliss Littler for entrusting me to take the Wild into the future.”
He spoke on having a strong relationship with Wild General Manager Bliss Littler and how he approaches the game.
“I’ve known Bliss for many years and respect his passion, knowledge, and leadership within the game,” Nachbaur said.
Nachbaur touched on how excited he is to be a member of the Wenatchee community and how he’s looking forward to working with Littler. He also said their fans will be proud of the commitment they make toward being a hardworking, competitive and entertaining team.
As far as the connection between Littler and Nachbaur, Littler spoke highly of Nachbaur brings to the franchise.
“When speaking to some WHL general managers, you hear a lot of the same things being said about Don Nachbaur. He is the best, or one of the best, head coaches they have ever worked with,” Wenatchee Wild general manager Bliss Littler said.
Littler said Nachbaur is a tireless teacher and prides himself to players into better people as well as better hockey players who are ready for the next level after their WHL career.
“With Don, you get a head coach who understands that everything matters when you’re a WHL head coach – that includes practice, to the strength coaching and off-ice workouts, to the education advisor making sure the players are working hard in the classroom, to working with the housing coordinator and billets to make sure the players are being looked after.”
Nachbaur is a coach who will hold not only players but also the staff to being the best version of themselves they can be every day according to Littler. Not only is he clearly a great person, but one who brings a wealth of experience to the franchise.
“Coach Nachbaur has played at and coached at the level that our players all strive to get to – just in the last five years, Don has coached in the NHL, AHL and in Europe. We could not be more excited to have Coach Nachbaur as our head coach.”
Nachbaur is bringing in some help from his time with the Wranglers as Dan Johnston joins the team as an assistant coach.
Stephen Heisler 