Wenatchee Wild Name Don Nachbaur as New Head Coach

The Wenatchee Wild have announced the hiring of veteran coach and former NHL player Don Nachbaur as the team’s new head coach.

Nachbaur has most recently been an assistant coach with the Calgary Wranglers in the American Hockey League, and previously the Stockton Heat.  He will now build on an extensive  WHL coaching resume including the 3rd most wins in the league record books.

“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.”

Prior to coaching, Nachbaur had a 15-year professional playing career after his third-round selection by the Hartford Whalers in the 1979 National Hockey League draft and 223 games NHL games with the Whalers, Edmonton Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers. Nachbaur was also hoisted the AHL Calder Cup  in 1988 as a member of the Hershey Bears. He has 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.

Nachbaur's WHL resume is impressive with 19 seasons of head coaching experience  with the Seattle Thunderbirds, Tri-City Americans and Spokane Chiefs. He is the third-winningest head coach in WHL history, and enters the season with 692 career wins and is a three-time WHL Coach of the Year.  Nachbaur holds the distinction as the only coach in Canadian Hockey League history to earn Coach of the Year honors for three different CHL teams.

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A native of Kitimat, British Columbia, Nachbaur is familiar with Wenatchee and the Wild organization – his son Daniel played for the Wild during the 2015-16 season.

“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.”

Joining Nachbaur in Wenatchee will be Dan Johnston, who will follow Nachbaur from the Wranglers coaching staff, as the team’s new assistant coach for the 2024-25 season.

The hiring of Head coach Nachbaur and assistant coach Johnston will complete the team’s coaching staff for the '24-25 season.  Chris Clark remains as associate head coach and assistant general manager, and Leigh Mendelson as goaltender coach and director of scouting.

The Wild will part ways with Andrew Sarauer in the role of assistant coach and thanked him for his service in a news release announcing the finalized coach staff.