Team Personnel

OWNERSHIP

OWNERSHIP – David and Lisa White

David and Lisa White made the leap into owning a junior hockey team in the inaugural 2009-2010 season with the Fresno Monsters in Fresno, California. This was few years after supporting local youth hockey, and then helping bring juniors to the area. Following the Monsters’ successful first season, the decision was made to have two junior hockey programs in Fresno, adding one in the North American Hockey League for the 2010-2011 season. This was to add a rung on the local development ladder as was present in the USA Hockey development model. The new NAHL team was in the same division with the Wenatchee Wild. David and Lisa White’s son Gunner would earn a spot on the Fresno Monsters’ roster, playing stints for both junior hockey teams. Gunner’s love for hockey was the reason the family grew an interest in developing 16-20 year old elite level players.

In spring of 2013, it was announced that the Wenatchee Wild’s former ownership group had plans to cease operations in Wenatchee and relocate the franchise to Texas. After several years of frequenting Wenatchee to watch the Fresno Monsters play there, David and Lisa White felt a huge connection to the town of Wenatchee. The amazing fans, the stunning arena, and the exceptional coaching staff. After several seasons with Wenatchee as the closest travel partner (1,000 miles away), and with the practice arena in Fresno unexpectedly shut down, the couple knew what they had to do. With league recommendation and support they decided to relocate the NAHL Fresno Monsters franchise to Wenatchee to keep the Wenatchee Wild train rolling – same team name and logo, same front office staff, and same coaching staff in place for what they hoped was a seamless transition for the players and fans.

In the 2015-2016 season, the Wenatchee Wild made the move to the British Columbia Hockey League as the only team in the United States. The transition to the BCHL would prove fruitful for David and Lisa. Besides a much better team travel situation, the Wenatchee Wild went on to become the 2018 BCHL Fred Page Cup Champion and the 2018 Doyle Cup Champion. This was their first junior hockey championship – an honor in which the couple are very proud of for the whole Wild organization.

In 2023, David and Lisa were elated to be able to bring the next chapter to the Wenatchee Wild by joining the Western Hockey League. Thanks to their efforts, Wenatchee now enjoys an even better travel situation, higher caliber of play, and now perfectly aligned in the greatest development league in the world to showcase the best Major Junior hockey players. The road to the ultimate development experience, that leads to NCAA Division I or the NHL, now runs through Wenatchee.

GENERAL MANAGER

Bliss Littler
General Manager

[email protected]

NOTABLE QUOTES:

“His teams were always very competitive, well coached, prepared to play each night… his players always conducted themselves in a professional manner… I personally knew many of the players he coached over the years and I can say I never heard anything negative about him from any of them.”

Jim Kronschnabel
Former Owner/Managing Partner – Sioux City Musketeers, USHL
Former Chairman of the Board, USHL

“I have experience at virtually every level of hockey, Major Junior, Tier II, lower professional and the AHL. Bliss is by far the best coach that I have ever employed… is extremely organized. . . . can stay within a budget . . . he has also many great ideas that the marketing department can use to increase the bottom line ”

Eric Bonanno
Former Owner Billings Bulls, AWHL/NAHL
Former President Kentucky Thoroughblades, AHL

“In Bliss Littler, you get the full package. Coach Littler will spend countless hours in preparing his athletes to perform at their best and achieve more than they expected.”

Greg Shea
President Tri-City Storm Hockey Club, USHL

“Bliss had a goal for our staff to “Do junior hockey today better than it has ever been done before.” If you do your job and do it well, Bliss will be your biggest supporter. On the flipside, if you slip in your performance he expects immediate improvement, which is quite fair in my opinion.”

Bill Nervig
Trainer, Omaha Lancers, USHL

With a career spanning 34 seasons behind the bench, Wenatchee Wild General Manager Bliss Littler is USA Hockey’s all time Tier 1 and Tier 2 winningest coach, with 836 regular season wins and a winning percentage of .635. The last 11 of those years were in the northwest with the Wenatchee Wild. Prior to arriving in Wenatchee, Bliss spent 11 years in the United States Hockey League as a Head Coach/General Manager with the Omaha Lancers, Tri-City Storm, and the Topeka Scarecrows. Five times he served as a coach for USA Hockey in international competitions. He launched his coaching career by spending seven years with the Billings Bulls of the AFHL and AWHL where he won five Borne Cups. He sported an overall record of 326-210-59 in the USHL, winning one Anderson Cup. In his career, he has coached over 300 players who moved on to play Division I hockey. He has also coached 25 NHL draft picks, including two first round picks, and seen more than 20 of his former players advance to the NHL. He also holds a Bachelor Degree in General Studies from Minot State University. Bliss is married to his wife Gretchen, and they have two children, Cade and Grace. They make their full-time home here in the Wenatchee Valley.

Bliss-Bio

COACHING HIGHLIGHTS

2018 – BCHL – Joe Tennant Memorial Trophy for Coach of the Year
2018 – CJHL Doyle Cup Pacific Region Championship
2018 – BCHL Fred Page Cup Championship
2017 – BCHL – Joe Tennant Memorial Trophy for Coach of the Year
2016 – BCHL Mainland Division Coach of the Year
2011 – Assistant Coach USA World Junior A Challenge (Bronze Medal) Langley, B.C.
2008 – Assistant Coach USA World Junior A Challenge (Gold Medal) Camrose, Alberta
2002 – Head Coach USA 19 and under Viking Cup (3-1-1 record) Camrose, Alberta
2000 – Assistant Coach USA 19 and under Viking Cup (Gold Medal) Camrose, Alberta
1997 – Assistant Coach USA 19 and under, Berne Cup(Gold Medal)Berne, Switzerland

DEVELOPMENT

More than 300 players have moved on to play Division I hockey.
Over 25 NHL draft picks.
2 NHL first round draft picks.
Over 20 players have advanced to play in the NHL.

HOCKEY OPERATIONS

Chris Clark

Assistant General Manager / Director of Hockey Operations
[email protected]

Chris will serve the Wild in a full-time management & administration role for the first time in 2025-26, after serving as part of the Wenatchee Wild coaching staff since the team’s inception in 2008. Most recently, he was Wenatchee’s associate head coach and assistant general manager from 2023-25, following the team’s transition into the Western Hockey League. As assistant coach, Chris helped and worked with 8 NCAA Division I, 3 WHL and 2 NHL drafted goaltenders. He served as Head Coach from December 2019 to June 2023.

Prior to joining the Wenatchee Wild, Chris spent the 2007-08 season as a graduate assistant at Division I Minnesota State University – Mankato (WCHA).

Chris played college hockey for the Minnesota State University -Mankato Mavericks from 2003 to 2007, when he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Sports Management and a minor in Marketing. Chris was a member of the WCHA All-Academic team from 2004-2007 and received the Mavericks Most Improved Player in 2004-05. He was honored in the 2007 WCHA Final Five program for his volunteer work in the Mankato community.

Before moving on to college, Chris played junior hockey from 2001 to 2003 in the BCHL and was a member of the 2000-01 Fred Page Cup Champion Victoria Salsa.

Chris and his wife Julie live in Wenatchee with their son Cooper and their dog Madison.

Leigh Mendelson

Director of Scouting
[email protected]

The 2025-26 season will be the start of Leigh’s ninth season with the Wild. He previously served as Associate Head Coach through the 2022 season, when he transitioned to his full-time Director of Scouting role, and also served as goaltender coach through the 2025 offseason.

Leigh has coached previously in Europe, as well as the AHL, ECHL, WHL, NCAA, NTDP, USHL, BCHL and NAHL, and was on staff as part of the Wild’s 2018 BCHL Championship team.

COACHING STAFF

Don Nachbaur

Head Coach

The Wenatchee Wild are excited to welcome Don Nachbaur back to the Wild family for his second season as the team’s head coach in 2025-26. Nachbaur came to Wenatchee after serving for the past three seasons as an American Hockey League assistant coach in the Calgary Flames organization, most recently for the Calgary Wranglers and previously the Stockton Heat.

A native of Kitimat, British Columbia, Nachbaur has built an extensive and decorated coaching resume following a 15-year professional playing career. Prior to moving into the pro ranks, he played two seasons in the WHL with the Billings Bighorns, scoring 67 goals and 146 points from 1977 to 1979. He still shares the WHL record with a five-goal playoff game in 1978. Nachbaur was selected by the Hartford Whalers in the third round of the 1979 National Hockey League draft and played in nearly 900 professional contests, including 223 NHL games for the Whalers, Edmonton Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers. He also claimed an AHL Calder Cup in 1988 as a member of the Hershey Bears.

During a 31-year coaching career, Nachbaur has guided teams at the highest levels of the sport, 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 as a Western Hockey League head coach and is especially familiar with the league’s U.S. Division, with 20 seasons of experience as a bench boss with the Seattle Thunderbirds, Tri-City Americans and Spokane Chiefs, in addition to the Wild. The third-winningest head coach in WHL history, Nachbaur earned his 700th WHL victory November 20, 2024 at the Kelowna Rockets, and has earned three Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophies as the WHL’s Coach of the Year – he is the only coach in Canadian Hockey League history to earn Coach of the Year honors for three different CHL teams. He has also enjoyed international success behind the bench, serving as an assistant coach for Canada at the 2013 World Junior Championships, and winning gold at international competitions as an assistant coach for the Canadian under-18 team.

Nachbaur has family ties to the city of Wenatchee and the Wild organization, with son Daniel playing for the Wild in the British Columbia Hockey League during the 2015-16 season before embarking on a four-year NCAA playing career at UMass-Boston. Don and his wife Kim have two adult children, Sydney and Daniel.

Dan Johnston

Assistant Coach

The Wenatchee Wild are pleased to welcome Daniel Johnston back to the Wild family for his second season as the team’s assistant coach in 2025-26. A native of Calgary, Alberta, Johnston served in his hometown with the Calgary Wranglers of the American Hockey League (AHL) for the previous two seasons, handling video coaching and team services duties.

As a player, Johnston stepped onto the ice for more than 250 games over six Western Hockey League seasons with the Portland Winterhawks and Lethbridge Hurricanes from 2007 to 2013. His professional playing career spanned nearly 200 appearances in a five-year ECHL career before his retirement in 2018. His hiring in Wenatchee marks a return to the WHL after opening his coaching career with a two-year stint as a video coach, and later an assistant coach, for the Brandon Wheat Kings from 2020 to 2022.

Daniel is excited about helping the Wild build on their foundation of talent for success.

Ethan Goldberg

Assistant Coach

The Wenatchee Wild are pleased to welcome Ethan Goldberg to the Wild family for his first season as an assistant coach in 2025-26. A native of Green Oaks, Illinois, Goldberg brings 13 years of coaching experience to the organization, including nine in the United States Hockey League with the Youngstown Phantoms, Sioux City Musketeers & Tri-City Storm. He most recently spent the 2024-25 season with Youngstown as the club’s Director of Player Development.

He was noted for his success in guiding the Tri-City penalty kill over his five years in central Nebraska, helping the club win the USHL’s Anderson Cup regular-season title in 2019 and overseeing the league’s top penalty kill in both the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons. He also served on Sioux City’s staff during its run to the Anderson Cup title in 2017 under current Philadelphia Flyers assistant Jay Varady.

Additionally, he comes to the Wild with NCAA experience at Lake Forest College in Illinois and Bemidji State University in Minnesota, and two years of European coaching experience. Goldberg has one season under his belt as an assistant for the SaiPa club in Liiga, Finland’s top professional hockey league, and another as head coach of Angers in Ligue Magnus, the top professional circuit in France.

Eric Williams

Goaltender Coach

The Wild are excited to welcome Eric Williams to the organization in 2025-26 for his first season as the club’s goaltender coach. The native of Langley, British Columbia comes to the Wild after a three-year stretch as a goaltender consultant for the British Columbia Hockey League’s Chilliwack Chiefs.

During his coaching career, Williams has lent his experience to West Vancouver Academy (now the North Shore Warriors) of the Canadian Sport School Hockey League and the Valley West Giants of the British Columbia Elite Hockey League, as well as the last three years with Chilliwack in the BCHL. In two of his three seasons on the Chilliwack staff, the Chiefs reached the Coastal Conference finals, with the club playing in the 2025 Fred Page Cup Final.

Williams built a decorated resume over a four-year playing career in the Western Hockey League with the Prince Albert Raiders and Spokane Chiefs from 2010 to 2014, appearing in 199 WHL games and earning 98 career wins, tying for 21^st on the league’s career wins list. He briefly joined the Colorado Eagles’ roster in the ECHL before embarking on a two-year collegiate run in Canada. He earned a spot on the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (now U Sports) National All-Rookie Team for the 2014-15 season, the first of his two seasons with the University of British Columbia.

Williams also reunites with Wenatchee head coach Don Nachbaur, for whom he played in Spokane from 2011 to 2014. His 73 wins in a Chiefs uniform rank third on the team’s all-time wins leaderboard.

Jordan McTaggart

Skills Coach
[email protected]

Coach McTaggart comes to Wenatchee from the Yellowstone Quake of the NA3HL. McTaggart, a Seattle native, played his junior hockey with the Quake before seeing an opportunity to be an assistant coach of the team he once suited up for. Following two seasons coaching in Wyoming, he came back to Washington to help coach with the Team Seattle AAA program. After two years there, McTaggart crossed the border north into Canada, taking a role as head coach of the Banff Hockey Academy midget varsity team in Alberta. That, along with being an assistant coach on the midget prep team, consumed McTaggart’s time for the next four years. Deciding to come back to the United States, McTaggart went back to Yellowstone for his second stint with the Quake, being an assistant coach there once again. With deep hockey roots, McTaggart’s father, Jim, played in the NHL for the Washington Capitals, and coached in the WHL with the Seattle Thunderbirds after retiring. Jordan looks to help prepare players for the next level of hockey, using the wisdom and experience he’s gathered from the junior hockey ranks.

ACADEMY COACHING STAFF

Troy Mick

Hockey Director / Head Coach 18UAAA / Assistant Coach 16UAAA
[email protected]

Troy Mick joined the Wenatchee Wild family in April 2022 to serve as Hockey Director of the Wenatchee Wild Hockey Academy, as well as Head Coach of the 18UAAA Wolves and 16UAAA Wilderness. He oversaw the Wenatchee AAA program’s entry into the Canadian Sport School Hockey League in 2023, and the program became the first in the state of Washington to add a USA Hockey Tier I 15-Only program in the spring of 2024.

He played two years in the BCHL in the mid-80’s, followed by a stellar run in the WHL with Portland and Regina. His offensive prowess as a forward was eye-catching, having three 100-plus-point seasons in the WHL – he is currently is 13th overall for all-time career points with 466. After being drafted by the Penguins in 1988, he would play pro hockey at the ECHL level for three years before turning to coaching in 1993.

He started off with a seven-year run in Vernon with the Lakers, later rebranded as the Vipers. He began there as an assistant then moved up to Head Coach / GM for four seasons where he won the Royal Bank Cup in 1999. He returned to the WHL for three years in various coaching and management roles before heading back to Vernon for a year. He stepped away from the game for a few years before accepting the position of Head Coach / GM with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks. He was there for six seasons, the latter part as GM and President. Prior to coming to Wenatchee, he was most recently the GM of the Philadelphia Hockey Club in the NCDC and Head Coach for the 18U AAA team, an opportunity for which he remains extremely grateful.

Jordan McTaggart

Co-Head Coach 18UAAA / Assistant Coach 16UAAA / Player Development Coach 14U and 15O, WWHA Travel Coordinator
[email protected]

Coach McTaggart joined the Wild organization in 2018 from the Yellowstone Quake of the NA3HL. McTaggart, a Seattle native, played his junior hockey with the Quake before seeing an opportunity to be an assistant coach of the team he once suited up for. Following two seasons coaching in Wyoming, he came back to Washington to help coach with the Team Seattle AAA program. After two years there, McTaggart crossed the border north into Canada, taking a role as head coach of the Banff Hockey Academy midget varsity team in Alberta. That, along with being an assistant coach on the midget prep team, consumed McTaggart’s time for the next four years. Deciding to come back to the United States, McTaggart went back to Yellowstone for his second stint with the Quake, being an assistant coach there once again. With deep hockey roots, McTaggart’s father, Jim, played in the NHL for the Washington Capitals, and coached in the WHL with the Seattle Thunderbirds after retiring. Jordan looks to help prepare players for the next level of hockey, using the wisdom and experience he’s gathered from the junior hockey ranks.

Pat Norlin

Head Coach 16UAAA / Assistant Coach 18UAAA
[email protected]

The Wenatchee Wild Hockey Academy is excited to welcome Pat Norlin back to the Wenatchee Wild organization for the 2025-26 season as its 16U head coach and 18U assistant coach.

After playing through the Wenatchee Amateur Hockey Association, Pat played junior hockey for the Kootenai Colts and the Puget Sound Tomahawks of the Northern Pacific Hockey League before into coaching. Pat has coached at the Tier 2 level from Mites to Midgets.

Pat was involved with the Wenatchee Wild from its inception through the first five years in many capacities including scouting, skill development and coaching its Tier 1 development teams.

Pat has coached 14U Tier 1 and 16U Tier 1 hockey at the highest levels in Western Canada and the United States, including the North American Prospects Hockey League and the Canadian Sport School Hockey League. Pat has also been an assistant coach for the Wenatchee Wolves, a 18U Tier 1 team that played in the Tier 3 Jr. A NPHL. Pat also spent a year coaching in Montana for the Helena Bighorns, where they went a franchise best 46-1-1, won the American West Hockey League and went to the national tournament. Across all these teams he has coached many players who moved on to higher levels including Tier 2 Jr. A, ACHA, NCAA and the NHL.

After spending several years working in tourism and finance, Pat finally returned to the Wild family ahead of the 2024-25 season.

Pat and his wife Rachel live in Wenatchee with their daughter Quinn, their son Cohen and their dog Jax.

Josh Chamberlain

Assistant Coach, 16UAAA

The Wenatchee Wild Hockey Academy is excited to welcome Josh Chamberlain back to the Wenatchee Valley to serve as its 16U assistant coach for the 2025-26 season. A native of Spokane, Washington, Chamberlain has worn a Wenatchee jersey both as a member of the 18U Wenatchee Wolves club and the Wenatchee Wild organization during its Junior A era.

Chamberlain spent much of his junior playing career in Montana and Washington, starting with the Western States Hockey League’s Missoula Maulers in 2013-14. He racked up 53 points for the Wenatchee Wolves in NorPac Hockey League play the following season, and earned a pair of appearances for the Wild in the NAHL. In 2015-16, he split time between Wenatchee and Missoula, including five BCHL appearances for the Wild, before closing out his career over the next two years with the NA3HL’s Missoula Jr. Bruins and the WSHL’s Oklahoma City Jr. Blazers.

His five-year collegiate career included three seasons of NCAA Division III hockey with New England College, and two years of ACHA play at the University of Montana.

He returns to the Valley alongside his fiance and their mutt, Millie.

Spencer White

Head Coach, 15OAAA

The Wenatchee Wild Hockey Academy is excited to welcome back Spencer White as its Tier I 15O head coach for the 2025-26 season, after serving as the assistant coach for its Tier I 15O and 14U weekend teams in 2024-25.

The East Wenatchee native returns to the same organization for which he played five seasons from 2015 to 2020, working his way up from the 14U team to a two-year stretch on the 18U roster. He served regularly as an alternate captain during his time with the Wild AAA program, and led his Wenatchee teams to multiple state championships. He graduated to a two-year junior career in the Eastern Hockey League, helping the New Jersey 87s to an EHL regular-season title in 2020-21, followed by a South Division championship and an EHL playoff championship the following year.

SCOUTING STAFF