Wenatchee Wild announce hiring of Don Nachbaur as Head Coach

WENATCHEE – The Wenatchee Wild, proud members of the Western Hockey League (WHL), are excited to announce the hiring of Don Nachbaur as the team’s new head coach. Nachbaur joins the club from a three-year stint in the Calgary Flames organization, serving as an American Hockey League assistant coach with the Calgary Wranglers, and previously the Stockton Heat.

“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,” said Nachbaur. “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. I’ve known Bliss for many years and respect his passion, knowledge, and leadership within the game.  With this said, I am very excited to be a member of the Wenatchee community and looking forward to working with Bliss, the players, and staff. Our fans will be proud of the commitment we make toward being a hardworking, competitive and entertaining team.”

Nachbaur has built an extensive and decorated coaching resume following a 15-year professional playing career that includes a third-round selection by the Hartford Whalers in the 1979 National Hockey League draft and 223 games in the NHL for the Whalers, Edmonton Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers. He also claimed an AHL Calder Cup in 1988 as a member of the Hershey Bears. He has coached teams at the highest levels of the sport during a 30-year coaching career, including eight seasons as an assistant in the NHL and AHL, and two years as a head coach in Europe.

He is also a proven winner at the WHL level, with 19 seasons of head coaching experience under his belt 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, and is the only coach in Canadian Hockey League history to earn Coach of the Year honors for three different CHL teams.

Originally hailing from Kitimat, British Columbia, Nachbaur is familiar with the city of Wenatchee and the Wild organization – his son Daniel played for the Wild during the 2015-16 season, ahead of a four-year stretch at UMass-Boston.

“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,” said Wenatchee Wild general manager Bliss Littler. “Besides being a tireless teacher, Don prides himself on helping to make the player a better person, and a better hockey player who is ready for the next level when his WHL career is over. 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.

“Don is a head coach who will hold the players and staff accountable to being the best version of themselves every day. 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 inherits a Wild team entering its second WHL season in Wenatchee after relocating from Winnipeg, Manitoba last summer. The 2023-24 team finished with 34 wins and took fourth place in the Western Conference standings, earning home-ice advantage in the opening round of the WHL playoffs. At the gate, the team enjoyed its highest per-game attendance since 2011, and drew 100,000 fans to Town Toyota Center during the regular season for the very first time.

The Wenatchee Wild also wish to welcome Dan Johnston, who will follow Nachbaur from the Wranglers coaching staff, as the team’s new assistant coach for the 2024-25 season. The Wild sincerely thank Andrew Sarauer for his service as the club’s assistant coach in the 2023-24 season, and offer their best wishes for his future. A formal announcement on Johnston’s hiring will follow Friday morning.

Nachbaur and Johnston’s hirings complete the team’s coaching staff for the upcoming season, following the previous announcements of Chris Clark’s extension as associate head coach and assistant general manager, and Leigh Mendelson’s extension as the team’s goaltender coach and director of scouting.

Wenatchee opens its 2024-25 preseason schedule with a home game September 7 against the Tri-City Americans, and the 2024-25 regular-season schedule September 21 at home against the Seattle Thunderbirds. Tickets for both of those contests, as well as season tickets, are available now by phone at 509-888-7825 or by visiting the team office at Town Toyota Center. Updated news and information on Wild hockey are always available through the team’s website, and its social media platforms on Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.