[{"id":54878,"date":"2026-08-11T13:47:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T17:47:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/?p=54878"},"modified":"2026-08-11T13:47:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T17:47:18","slug":"wenatchee-wild-welcome-back-branam-as-strength-conditioning-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/article\/wenatchee-wild-welcome-back-branam-as-strength-conditioning-coach","title":{"rendered":"Wenatchee Wild Welcome Back Branam as Strength & Conditioning Coach"},"content":{"rendered":"

WENATCHEE, Wash.<\/strong> \u2013\u00a0The Wenatchee Wild, proud members of the Western Hockey League (WHL), are pleased to announce that Aron Branam <\/strong>will return to the club this season as Wenatchee\u2019s new Strength & Conditioning Coach. Branam comes back to the Wild after previously serving nine years as the club\u2019s Strength & Conditioning Coach during Wenatchee\u2019s time in the North American Hockey League and British Columbia Hockey League.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m incredibly excited to return to the Wenatchee Wild organization after more than six years away. I previously worked with the Wild for nine seasons, so this opportunity feels a lot like coming home,\u201d said Branam. \u201cWhen I was approached in June, I was immediately interested. After speaking with management about the caliber of athletes in the organization and the opportunity to work with the players while helping establish a dedicated training facility at Town Toyota Center, I knew it was something I wanted to be part of again. Sport-specific training has always been a passion of mine, and I\u2019m looking forward to meeting the players, helping them stay healthy and available throughout the season, and supporting their continued development as athletes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Branam brings a wealth of expertise to the Wild, with more than 25 years of health, fitness, and performance training experience. He holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in Exercise Science from Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Montana and began his career in cardiopulmonary rehabilitation while assisting physical and occupational therapy teams at St. Vincent Hospital in Billings. He later spent three years as Rocky Mountain College\u2019s head strength and conditioning coach, working with athletes across all of its varsity sports.<\/p>\n

His career has also included leadership roles with Seattle Athletic Club, Cybex International, and Worx of Wenatchee Valley, where he served as Fitness Director and General Manager for 11 years. Most recently, he developed and led the strength, speed, and agility program for Wenatchee High School baseball. For the past decade, he has also been the strength coach to Cashmere High School graduate Hailey Van Lith, now a second-year player in the Women\u2019s National Basketball Association and a 2024 Olympic medalist.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an organization we are excited to have Aron back as our strength and conditioning coach,\u201d said Wenatchee Wild assistant general manager Chris Clark, who worked with Branam during all of his previous seasons with the Wild. \u201cHe did a great job the nine years he was with us before, and really has a passion for helping kids achieve their goals. When you talk to Aron, you can hear the passion he has for the weight room and wanting to help the players get better. We would also like to thank Max Crowell who also did a great job the last handful of years.\u201d<\/p>\n

He and his wife, LeAnne, live in Wenatchee with their four children and two dogs.<\/p>\n

The Wenatchee Wild proudly welcome Aron Branam back to the Wild family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WENATCHEE, Wash. \u2013\u00a0The Wenatchee Wild, proud members of the Western Hockey League (WHL), are pleased to announce that Aron Branam will return to the club this season as Wenatchee\u2019s new Strength & Conditioning Coach. Branam comes back to the Wild after previously serving nine years as the club\u2019s Strength & Conditioning Coach during Wenatchee\u2019s time…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":368,"featured_media":54879,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-54878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-53","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/66\/2026\/08\/11134605\/Welcome-to-the-Team-4-e1786470411317.png",1080,960,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/368"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54878"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54878\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54880,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54878\/revisions\/54880"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":54861,"date":"2026-08-04T18:58:42","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T22:58:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/?p=54861"},"modified":"2026-08-04T19:39:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T23:39:28","slug":"chamberlains-journey-comes-full-circle-as-wild-hockey-academy-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/article\/chamberlains-journey-comes-full-circle-as-wild-hockey-academy-coach","title":{"rendered":"Chamberlain’s Journey Comes Full Circle as Wild Hockey Academy Coach"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>WENATCHEE, Wash. <\/strong>– A hockey lover from a young age, Josh Chamberlain has spent a lot of time developing his skills to become the best hockey player he can be. A few short years after finishing his competitive playing career, he is now helping young players do the same thing as an assistant coach in the Wenatchee Wild Hockey Academy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Chamberlain grew up in Spokane, Washington, where the hockey community has grown tremendously over the last several decades. With a family that had Spokane Chiefs season tickets and an older brother who played hockey, it was no surprise that he put on skates at just three years old, and has never exactly taken them off.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI got put on a pair of skates, and luckily, my brother had been playing for a couple of previous years,” said Chamberlain. “I just followed in his footsteps. That’s exactly what I did. It was exactly what any little brother would do at that time.”<\/span><\/p>\n

There was no shortage of ways to learn the sport in the Lilac City, either. In addition to the Chiefs, the Spokane Braves have operated in town since 1971 and the Coeur d’Alene Lakers briefly operated in the Northern Pacific Hockey League just a half-hour away. Eventual Stanley Cup champion Tyler Johnson scored 120 points for the Lakers in just 39 games in 2006-07 before playing for the Chiefs under current Wenatchee head coach Don Nachbaur. Planet Ice in Spokane Valley and the Riverfront Park Ice Palace were also options before the two facilities closed in 2005 and 2017.<\/p>\n

“There was hockey all over the place,” said Chamberlain. “I am very lucky to have grown up in Spokane, where it was thriving at the time, and I believe it still is. With the demand of hockey in Spokane, it’s always been growing. They do a really good job of getting the youth programs involved.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The community of Missoula, Montana would feature in his story more than once as well. During the 2013-14 season, Chamberlain kicked off his junior hockey journey at 16 years old alongside his brother, with the Western States Hockey League’s Missoula Maulers. The first stay in Missoula lasted a single season – Chamberlain had played in Wenatchee on weekends as a 14-year-old before moving on to juniors. Current Wenatchee 16U head coach Pat Norlin saw an opportunity to bring him into the Wild organization with an intriguing new opportunity: joining a program called the Wenatchee Wolves, an 18U AAA hockey team competing in the NorPac junior league.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The results were just as intriguing – with no players on the roster over 18 years old, the Wolves took the league by storm. In their first season in 2014-15, they finished third out of the league’s six teams and nearly bumped the second-seeded Bellingham Blazers in the semifinal round of the Cascade Cup playoffs. The following year, they combined to go 45-1 through the regular season and playoffs, running away with the NorPac championship.<\/p>\n

With or without the older players, Chamberlain was able to quickly find his stride with the Wolves, piling up 53 points in league play but also earning a pair of appearances in the North American Hockey League with the Wild. The following year, he played in only one NorPac game, but found a spot in the lineup for five Wild games as the newest member of the British Columbia Hockey League. He became one of only 13 players to play for the Wild in both the NAHL and BCHL.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>“It was really special,” said Chamberlain. “Throughout my season, I got a couple of chances to practice with the Wild. There were a couple of moments in and out where I’d familiarized myself with the group. At the end of the season, the Wolves didn’t get to end as well as we’d wanted to, but it offered a unique opportunity for me to join the Wild immediately after our season ended. Hunter Alden and I made the jump and got to play a couple of games down in Texas.”<\/p>\n

By the end of the season, he had returned to Missoula and the WSHL, rolling up 13 points in his 14 appearances on the old circuit.\u00a0He continued his final two junior seasons making a massive impact for both the Missoula Jr. Bruins – now part of the North American Tier 3 Hockey League – and the WSHL’s Oklahoma City Jr. Blazers. Chamberlain finished as the second-leading scorer on both teams, racking up 63 points in Missoula and an impressive 112 points with Oklahoma City. During his final year with the Blazers, he even helped recruit several former Wenatchee teammates to the Blazers, bringing the group together for one last ride on the junior stage.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“[Ivan Bondarenko] was a major component in me going to Oklahoma City,” said Chamberlain. “They’re familiar with him here – he was a tremendous player. I think the crowd will remember him fairly well for his ability to handle the puck, and his ability to be a great, great playmaker. When he and I got a hold of each other that summer, we decided we’d try to put together as good a team as we could in Oklahoma City.”<\/p>\n

Bondarenko paced the Blazers in scoring with 126 points, while former Wolves teammate Griffin Weincek cranked out 107 points of his own. Even Wolves alternate captain Connor Dunn jumped on board to the tune of 40 points in 2017-18, helping the Blazers reach the league’s Thorne Cup championshp tournament before finishing fifth.<\/p>\n

He and Dunn continued on to college together, recruited from a showcase in Las Vegas to join the group at New England College, an NCAA Division III school in Henniker, New Hampshire. Chamberlain played regularly, netting four points over 43 games during his first two seasons. Thanks to COVID restrictions, the 2020-21 season was an odd one for many – for NEC, competition that season never began until February. It was a good season for Chamberlain, picking up seven points over just 10 games, and the end of a memorable three-year run.<\/p>\n

“It was a really great time,” said Chamberlain. “I’d never spent much time on the East Coast prior to my college commitment, so it was a whole new experience that I never thought I’d get the opportunity to do. Living in New Hampshire in a tiny little town, I ended up meeting my now-wife, so there was a lot that came with it. It was a unique experience – I went from playing forward as a junior hockey player to making the transition to a defenseman in college, but it was really a great time. I have friends for a lifetime that I’ll never forget, and opportunities and memories that I’ll never forget.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The opportunity for Chamberlain to return to his old stomping grounds in Missoula and play ACHA hockey at the University of Montana was too great to turn down. The two-year stay with the Grizzlies was a fitting final chapter to finish his competitive career, returning to the same place where he had first broken into juniors nearly a decade before. After a brief 2021-22 season with the Grizzlies, he wrapped up with a point per game as a graduate player in 2022-23.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are building something unique in Missoula, and honestly, all of Montana hockey is growing,” said Chamberlain. “It has been a really cool experience to watch, and I got to play at home again in front of my parents for one last year, which was really cool.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Chamberlain stayed near the sport in the two years after his time in Montana wrapped up, and he now has a niece and nephew who are also learning the sport for the first time. Being hired at the start of the 2025-26 season has brought his journey in the sport full circle – after reaching the BCHL during his own junior career, Chamberlain now coaches in the continent’s top education-based league after the Wenatchee Wild Hockey Academy became a Canadian Sport School Hockey League member in 2023. The same AAA program that he suited up for as a teenager had 49 former players active in junior hockey last season, with more than two dozen more lacing up the skates for NCAA and ACHA college programs.<\/p>\n

For Chamberlain, seeing the game evolve in real time through the talent of the next generation has become perhaps the biggest highlight of his coaching career.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“Playing in the CSSHL is one of the most premier things you can do as a youth hockey player,” said Chamberlain. “Being able to coach and watch the talent that comes in and out of that door every day is unique and really fulfilling. Everybody knows that (hockey) is constantly changing and you never get comfortable, so it’s unique to get to come in here and get to be in the CSSHL and watch this talent all the time.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

*The Wenatchee Wild wish to thank media intern Brittany Howe for her contributions to this feature*<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WENATCHEE, Wash. – A hockey lover from a young age, Josh Chamberlain has spent a lot of time developing his skills to become the best hockey player he can be. A few short years after finishing his competitive playing career, he is now helping young players do the same thing as an assistant coach in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":368,"featured_media":54872,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-54861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-53","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/66\/2026\/08\/04193912\/2025-26-Where-Are-They-Now-Josh-Chamberlain-1.jpg",1920,1440,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/368"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54861"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54871,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54861\/revisions\/54871"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":54863,"date":"2026-07-31T12:59:44","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T16:59:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/?p=54863"},"modified":"2026-07-31T12:42:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T16:42:11","slug":"wenatchee-wild-defenseman-boston-tait-selected-to-canadian-hlinka-gretzky-cup-roster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/article\/wenatchee-wild-defenseman-boston-tait-selected-to-canadian-hlinka-gretzky-cup-roster","title":{"rendered":"Wenatchee Wild Defenseman Boston Tait Selected to Canadian Hlinka Gretzky Cup Roster"},"content":{"rendered":"

EDMONTON, Alberta \u2013<\/strong> The Wenatchee Wild, proud members of the Western Hockey League (WHL), are excited to announce that 2009-born defenseman Boston Tait<\/strong><\/a> has been selected to compete for Team Canada at next week\u2019s Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Edmonton, Alberta. Tait was chosen to the roster for next week\u2019s tournament from Hockey Canada\u2019s national Under-18 Men\u2019s Summer Training Camp, held as part of Hockey Canada\u2019s Program of Excellence. Tait was one of nine defensemen chosen to compete in the camp and one of seven to be chosen to play for Canada in the tournament. 22 players in all were selected to Canada\u2019s Hlinka Gretzky Cup roster.<\/p>\n

A native of Estevan, Saskatchewan, Tait excelled last season with the Wild, playing his first full WHL season as a 16-year-old and picking up 23 points in 62 appearances. He was once named the circuit\u2019s Rookie of the Week, scoring his first WHL goal on December 7 and adding three assists over a four-game week. He is also one of 21 players on Canada\u2019s Hlinka Gretzky Cup roster who competed in last year\u2019s World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Nova Scotia, ranking second in the tournament with six assists and serving as an alternate captain for eventual gold medalist Canada Red.<\/p>\n

The Hlinka Gretzky Cup is considered one of the top preseason showcases for National Hockey League prospects in the summer prior to their draft seasons, and has been contested since 1991. The tournament is named for longtime Czech national team head coach Ivan Hlinka and Hockey Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky, who won four Stanley Cups during his time with the Edmonton Oilers. This year marks the sixth time that Canada will compete in the tournament on home ice, and the fourth time that Edmonton will host the tournament.<\/p>\n

The Hlinka Gretzky Cup will take place in downtown Edmonton, starting with a 4 p.m. puck drop on Monday against Switzerland. Games Tuesday and Wednesday will follow against Slovakia and Sweden, respectively. Semifinals and medal games will follow next Friday and Saturday. Canada has medaled in the tournament each of the last four years, earning three straight gold medals from 2022 to 2024.<\/p>\n

The Wenatchee Wild congratulate Boston Tait on his selection to Canada\u2019s Hlinka Gretzky Cup roster, and wish him all success as he again represents Team Canada on the international stage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EDMONTON, Alberta \u2013 The Wenatchee Wild, proud members of the Western Hockey League (WHL), are excited to announce that 2009-born defenseman Boston Tait has been selected to compete for Team Canada at next week\u2019s Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Edmonton, Alberta. Tait was chosen to the roster for next week\u2019s tournament from Hockey Canada\u2019s national Under-18…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":368,"featured_media":54866,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[{"term_id":116,"name":"Boston Tait","slug":"boston-tait","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":116,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":20,"filter":"raw","term_order":"47"}],"class_list":["post-54863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-boston-tait","category-53","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/66\/2026\/07\/31124107\/IIHF-World-Championships-4.png",1080,1350,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/368"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54863"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54864,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54863\/revisions\/54864"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":54853,"date":"2026-07-31T11:59:52","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T15:59:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/?p=54853"},"modified":"2026-07-31T14:36:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T18:36:33","slug":"wenatchee-wild-announce-hiring-of-d-j-mcfarland-to-equipment-manager-post","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/article\/wenatchee-wild-announce-hiring-of-d-j-mcfarland-to-equipment-manager-post","title":{"rendered":"Wenatchee Wild Announce Hiring of DJ McFarland to Equipment Manager Post"},"content":{"rendered":"

WENATCHEE, Wash.<\/strong> \u2013\u00a0The Wenatchee Wild, proud members of the Western Hockey League (WHL), are pleased to announce the hiring of\u00a0DJ McFarland<\/strong>\u00a0as the team\u2019s new equipment manager. McFarland joins the Wild organization from a three-year stretch with the ECHL\u2019s Utah Grizzlies, including one season as the team\u2019s head equipment manager.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my interactions with the organization during my time in the ECHL as well as in the hiring process, the organization seems like a top-notch crew,\u201d said McFarland. \u201cThe city seems like an amazing place to live, and the fans seem to love the team. I\u2019m super excited to be joining the Wild and living in Wenatchee.\u201d<\/p>\n

A native of Clearfield, Utah, McFarland became immersed in the hockey scene in his home state, spending two years as the Grizzlies\u2019 assistant equipment manager before being named to the team\u2019s top post for the 2025-26 season. He has also assisted several other nearby teams, including as a room attendant for the National Hockey League\u2019s Utah Mammoth, equipment manager for the Weber State University club hockey team, and assisting with off-ice duties for the National Collegiate Development Conference\u2019s Ogden Mustangs. He also helped to start the \u201cSticks In\u201d program to provide hockey gear to underprivileged children in the Ogden area.<\/p>\n

McFarland brings with him existing connections to the Wild organization as well, working this past season with former captain Evan Friesen and former Wenatchee head coach John Becanic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are excited to have DJ on board with us,\u201d said Wenatchee Wild general manager Bliss Littler. \u201cHe has been working in pro hockey the last three years, which has given DJ a lot of experience. I know our players will be in good hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

McFarland\u2019s hiring completes Wenatchee\u2019s full-time support staff for the 2026-27 season, after the club recently announced its newest athletic trainer hiring as well.<\/p>\n

The Wenatchee Wild proudly welcome DJ McFarland to the Wild family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WENATCHEE, Wash. \u2013\u00a0The Wenatchee Wild, proud members of the Western Hockey League (WHL), are pleased to announce the hiring of\u00a0DJ McFarland\u00a0as the team\u2019s new equipment manager. McFarland joins the Wild organization from a three-year stretch with the ECHL\u2019s Utah Grizzlies, including one season as the team\u2019s head equipment manager. \u201cIn my interactions with the organization…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":368,"featured_media":54854,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-54853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-53","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/66\/2026\/07\/29151133\/Welcome-to-the-Team-3-e1785352329443.png",1080,960,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/368"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54853"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54853\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54857,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54853\/revisions\/54857"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":54848,"date":"2026-07-28T18:20:36","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T22:20:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/?p=54848"},"modified":"2026-07-28T18:36:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T22:36:57","slug":"wenatchee-wild-announce-osborne-saab-clear-whl-waivers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/article\/wenatchee-wild-announce-osborne-saab-clear-whl-waivers","title":{"rendered":"Wenatchee Wild Announce Osborne, Saab Clear WHL Waivers"},"content":{"rendered":"

WENATCHEE, Wash. \u2013<\/strong> The Wenatchee Wild have announced that 2006-born forward Zane Saab <\/strong>and 2006-born defenseman Brandon Osborne <\/strong>have cleared Western Hockey League waivers for 20-year-old players, and are now free agents.<\/p>\n

Saab spent two seasons with the Wild, totaling 42 points over 128 appearances in a Wenatchee uniform. Osborne joined the club ahead of the 2025-26 campaign, compiling 13 points in 56 games this past year. Following these moves, Wenatchee has reached its allotment of three 2006-born players on its roster, who will enter their final season of junior eligibility in 2026-27.<\/p>\n

The Wenatchee Wild sincerely thank Zane Saab and Brandon Osborne for their contributions to the club, and wish them all future success on and off the ice.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WENATCHEE, Wash. \u2013 The Wenatchee Wild have announced that 2006-born forward Zane Saab and 2006-born defenseman Brandon Osborne have cleared Western Hockey League waivers for 20-year-old players, and are now free agents. Saab spent two seasons with the Wild, totaling 42 points over 128 appearances in a Wenatchee uniform. Osborne joined the club ahead of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":368,"featured_media":54849,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-54848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-53","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/66\/2026\/07\/28181738\/IIHF-World-Championships-3.png",1080,1350,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/368"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54848"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54851,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54848\/revisions\/54851"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":54828,"date":"2026-07-28T12:40:39","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T16:40:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/?p=54828"},"modified":"2026-07-28T12:47:59","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T16:47:59","slug":"wild-announce-hiring-of-kenna-behrens-as-teams-new-athletic-trainer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/article\/wild-announce-hiring-of-kenna-behrens-as-teams-new-athletic-trainer","title":{"rendered":"Wild Announce Hiring of Kenna Behrens as Team’s New Athletic Trainer"},"content":{"rendered":"

WENATCHEE, Wash. \u2013<\/strong> The Wenatchee Wild, proud members of the Western Hockey League (WHL), are pleased to announce the hiring of Kenna Behrens <\/strong>as the team\u2019s new athletic trainer. Behrens joins the Wild organization from the University of Portland in Portland, Oregon, where she has served for the past two seasons as the athletic trainer for the NCAA Division I school\u2019s baseball team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am truly honored and appreciative to be able to be a part of the Wenatchee Wild hockey team,\u201d said Behrens. \u201cI am looking forward to living in the beautiful city of Wenatchee, and having the opportunity to work with the staff and players. I can\u2019t wait for the season to start.\u201d<\/p>\n

A native of Kennewick, Washington, Behrens graduated in 2020 from the University of Idaho with a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science & Health, and received her master\u2019s degree in Athletic Training there the following year. She also brings high-level competition experience of her own to the Wild, competing for three years as a multi-event athlete for the Vandals\u2019 track and field team.<\/p>\n

She has quickly gained experience in both the athletic training and strength & conditioning fields, spending time with Division I athletic programs at both Vanderbilt University and the University of Tennessee before spending three seasons as an athletic trainer in the Philadelphia Phillies\u2019 minor-league system. Last season, she added the WHL to her resume, assisting the Portland Winterhawks with the club\u2019s strength & conditioning efforts.<\/p>\n

\u201cKenna comes very highly recommended,\u201d said Wenatchee Wild general manager Bliss Littler. \u201cWe are excited to have her on staff and are looking forward to the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Wild are in the process of completing their staff for the 2026-27 season, with a new equipment manager to be announced in the coming days as well.<\/p>\n

The Wenatchee Wild proudly welcome Kenna Behrens to the Wild family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WENATCHEE, Wash. \u2013 The Wenatchee Wild, proud members of the Western Hockey League (WHL), are pleased to announce the hiring of Kenna Behrens as the team\u2019s new athletic trainer. Behrens joins the Wild organization from the University of Portland in Portland, Oregon, where she has served for the past two seasons as the athletic trainer…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":368,"featured_media":54829,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-54828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-53","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/66\/2026\/07\/21174045\/Welcome-to-the-Team-2-e1784670084845.png",1080,960,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/368"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54828"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54828\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54844,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54828\/revisions\/54844"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":54838,"date":"2026-07-27T14:28:35","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T18:28:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/?p=54838"},"modified":"2026-07-27T14:28:35","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T18:28:35","slug":"wenatchee-wild-announce-acquisition-of-whl-veteran-kayden-longley-from-lethbridge-hurricanes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/article\/wenatchee-wild-announce-acquisition-of-whl-veteran-kayden-longley-from-lethbridge-hurricanes","title":{"rendered":"Wenatchee Wild Announce Acquisition of WHL Veteran Kayden Longley from Lethbridge Hurricanes"},"content":{"rendered":"

WENATCHEE, Wash. \u2013<\/strong> The Wenatchee Wild have announced a trade with the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the Western Hockey League (WHL), acquiring 2006-born forward Kayden Longley <\/strong>from the Hurricanes in exchange for a pair of WHL Prospects Draft selections. The Hurricanes will receive Wenatchee\u2019s third-round selection in the 2027 WHL Prospects Draft originally assigned to the Brandon Wheat Kings, and the club\u2019s fifth-round pick in the 2029 Prospects Draft.<\/p>\n

Longley is entering his fourth full season of junior competition, and brings a wealth of WHL experience and leadership to the Wild organization. The Wainwright, Alberta native has appeared in 184 WHL contests with Lethbridge and the Kelowna Rockets, appearing in 48 with the Hurricanes after a trade this past November and tallying 37 points. His final point of the 2025-26 campaign was his 100th<\/sup> in WHL play. He earned a leadership role right away with his new team, serving as one of Lethbridge\u2019s alternate captains this past year.<\/p>\n

The Wenatchee Wild proudly welcome Kayden Longley to the Wild family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WENATCHEE, Wash. \u2013 The Wenatchee Wild have announced a trade with the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the Western Hockey League (WHL), acquiring 2006-born forward Kayden Longley from the Hurricanes in exchange for a pair of WHL Prospects Draft selections. The Hurricanes will receive Wenatchee\u2019s third-round selection in the 2027 WHL Prospects Draft originally assigned to the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":368,"featured_media":54839,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-54838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-53","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/66\/2026\/07\/27140706\/Trade-Graphic-26-27-7-e1785175712895.png",1080,960,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/368"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54838"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54840,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54838\/revisions\/54840"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":54831,"date":"2026-07-22T13:29:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T17:29:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/?p=54831"},"modified":"2026-07-22T13:34:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T17:34:57","slug":"wenatchee-defenseman-tait-named-to-hockey-canada-u18-mens-summer-training-camp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/article\/wenatchee-defenseman-tait-named-to-hockey-canada-u18-mens-summer-training-camp","title":{"rendered":"Wenatchee Defenseman Tait Named to Hockey Canada U18 Men’s Summer Training Camp"},"content":{"rendered":"

WENATCHEE, Wash. \u2013<\/strong> The Wenatchee Wild, proud members of the Western Hockey League (WHL), are excited to announce that 2009-born defenseman Boston Tait<\/strong><\/a> has been selected to Hockey Canada\u2019s national Under-18 Men\u2019s Summer Training Camp as part of Hockey Canada\u2019s Program of Excellence. Tait was one of just 27 players and only nine defensemen chosen to participate in the camp.<\/p>\n

A native of Estevan, Saskatchewan, Tait excelled last season with the Wild, playing his first full WHL season as a 16-year-old and picking up 23 points in 62 appearances. He was once named the circuit\u2019s Rookie of the Week, scoring his first WHL goal on December 7 and adding three assists over a four-game week. He is also one of 25 players at the U18 Men\u2019s Summer Training Camp who competed in last year\u2019s World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Nova Scotia, ranking second in the tournament with six assists and serving as an alternate captain for eventual gold medalist Canada Red.<\/p>\n

The U18 camp is considered the second step in Hockey Canada\u2019s Program of Excellence, allowing players to compete against other top Canadian talent while being evaluated for inclusion on this year\u2019s Hlinka Gretzky Cup roster. The Hlinka Gretzky Cup is considered to be one of the top preseason showcases for National Hockey League prospects in the summer prior to their draft seasons, and has been contested since 1991.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s U18 Men\u2019s Summer Training Camp is set for July 27 to August 1 at NAIT Arena and Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, and will include practices and a game against Sweden on July 30. A pre-tournament game against Czechia on August 1 is also scheduled before the tournament roster is finalized. The Hlinka Gretzky Cup will take place in downtown Edmonton from August 3 to 8. Canada has medaled in the tournament each of the last four years, earning three straight gold medals from 2022 to 2024.<\/p>\n

The Wenatchee Wild congratulate Boston Tait on his selection to Hockey Canada\u2019s national Under-18 Men\u2019s Summer Training Camp, and wish him all success in his quest to again represent Team Canada on the international stage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WENATCHEE, Wash. \u2013 The Wenatchee Wild, proud members of the Western Hockey League (WHL), are excited to announce that 2009-born defenseman Boston Tait has been selected to Hockey Canada\u2019s national Under-18 Men\u2019s Summer Training Camp as part of Hockey Canada\u2019s Program of Excellence. Tait was one of just 27 players and only nine defensemen chosen…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":368,"featured_media":54832,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[{"term_id":116,"name":"Boston Tait","slug":"boston-tait","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":116,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":20,"filter":"raw","term_order":"47"}],"class_list":["post-54831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-boston-tait","category-53","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/66\/2026\/07\/22132905\/IIHF-World-Championships-2-1-e1784741371717.png",1080,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/368"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54831"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54834,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54831\/revisions\/54834"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":54816,"date":"2026-07-20T18:29:49","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T22:29:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/?p=54816"},"modified":"2026-07-20T19:57:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T23:57:19","slug":"wild-alumnus-huson-finds-no-shortage-of-hats-headsets-to-wear-in-colorado","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/article\/wild-alumnus-huson-finds-no-shortage-of-hats-headsets-to-wear-in-colorado","title":{"rendered":"Wild Alumnus Huson Finds No Shortage of Hats, Headsets to Wear in Colorado"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. –\u00a0<\/strong>There’s no doubt: Wenatchee Wild alumnus Kyle Huson<\/strong> comes from a sports family.<\/p>\n

Younger brother Cody played Division I baseball at Abilene Christian University in Texas. Older sister Lindsay played volleyball at Division II Western Colorado University. His dad, Jeff, enjoyed a 12-year Major League Baseball career with seven teams, including four years with the Texas Rangers and a 1998 season in Washington state with the Seattle Mariners.<\/p>\n

Kyle’s chosen sport was hockey, landing an NCAA Division I scholarship out of Wenatchee and eventually taking his game all the way to the broadcast booth in his home state of Colorado. He started following the sport in Texas when he was just a few years old, transfixed by a Dallas Stars game that he attended with his family. The timing for his family’s move to Colorado shortly after that game couldn’t be better – the National Hockey League also moved into the neighborhood, with the Nordiques’ relocation from Quebec City in the summer of 1995. Jeff soon found himself asking for high-level help in getting Kyle started in the sport.<\/p>\n

“My dad actually met Patrick Roy’s wife at the gym, since we lived in the same neighborhood,” said Huson. “He said, ‘My son wants to get into hockey, but I’m a baseball guy. I’m from Arizona, and I know nothing about this. Can you help me get started?’ They got in touch with Littleton Hockey, and got me into skating lessons there, and I just got on the ice and started playing. I never took off the skates after that.”<\/p>\n

The sport began taking off in the Denver area just as Huson first stepped onto the ice, aided by Colorado’s 1996 Stanley Cup championship and the Avs’ budding rivalry with the Detroit Red Wings, as well as their subsequent title run in 2001 led by legendary defenseman Ray Bourque.<\/p>\n

“Growing up, I was entrenched in the perfect time in Colorado to get into hockey,” said Huson. “They’d just moved (from Quebec), and you’ve got (Joe) Sakic, (Patrick) Roy, (Peter) Forsberg, and then Rob Blake joins the team, and obviously Ray Bourque joined and had his amazing run. It was an incredible time to be a hockey fan in Colorado, and get started.”<\/p>\n

The move to Colorado gave the family a firm “home base” while Jeff continued his baseball career, which wrapped up with the Chicago Cubs in 2000. His absence during the baseball season meant some heavy-duty coordination between Jeff’s wife Wendy and Kyle’s grandparents, who lived just up the road in Cheyenne, Wyoming, in order to keep the family’s busy school and activity schedule intact. During the offseason, however, Jeff could always be spotted at his kids’ activities and spending extra time with his family.<\/p>\n

Having a dad on the major-league diamonds certainly did have its perks, though – nine-year-old Kyle got to serve as a bat boy for the Cubs during his dad’s final season and shag batting-practice balls from slugger Sammy Sosa and pitcher Kerry Wood, who was known for grabbing a bat and taking his hacks in between turns in the pitching rotation.<\/p>\n

“I’m able to reflect back and think, that’s not normal,” said Huson. “Not every kid gets to do that, and I’m so appreciative of those times that I was able to do that. I think it helped me, and it helped my siblings too, to get that dugout experience and that clubhouse experience and understanding the professionalism that you have to carry yourself with, and the way that you have to compete in everything that you do. It gave us a cool, unique perspective that I think carried us a long way.”<\/p>\n

Huson points to his path in hockey as proof that everyone’s path to success is different, and that playing different sports or being a late bloomer isn’t a hindrance to achieving goals. In his first two years of high school, he moved from midget minor A hockey to getting looks from college and junior scouts as a member of the Colorado Thunderbirds AAA program. Former Wild assistant coach Ryan McKelvie spotted him as the Thunderbirds played through their 2009-10 season, and he would earn a spot on the Wenatchee roster that fall.<\/p>\n

The fit was a good one – Huson went on to play 111 North American Hockey League games with the Wild, netting 40 points over two seasons. It was good enough that after his first season with the Wild, Huson decided not to pursue a roster spot in the United States Hockey League, staying in north-central Washington for his 20-year-old season. The bonds he built with his teammates and the atmosphere at Town Toyota Center each night convinced him that becoming a leader in Wenatchee and the conversations he was already having with Division I coaches far outweighed the risks of moving on to an unknown situation elsewhere.<\/p>\n

“I fell in love with the town, and had a great billet family in Pam and Rodney Arena,” said Huson. “The thing that I remember aside from the hockey portion of it, every home game day, I’d go to Smitty’s Pancake House and get the same meal. Lorrie Bradley was always there – I’d get the Farmers’ Breakfast with the Swedish crepes, and they’d bring me out hot chocolate with whipped cream. It just became my staple for each and every home game, and I miss being able to do that.”<\/p>\n

Playing for the Wild did yield a Division I scholarship to the University of Connecticut, playing alongside former Wenatchee teammate Shawn Pauly. He immediately became a regular in the Huskies’ lineup, playing in all 73 games as a freshman and sophomore and picking up a dozen points in those two years. Though he was out of the lineup more often during his final two seasons with the Huskies, he got a chance to witness the growth of the UConn hockey program firsthand, as the program transitioned from Atlantic Hockey to Hockey East in 2014. Much of the coaching staff from the transition is still in place, though the program finally reached its first two NCAA tournaments in 2025 and 2026.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Being in the UConn program allowed Huson to not only get a good education and build friendships with his teammates, but it allowed him to get his feet wet in broadcasting, handling play-by-play for the school’s student station, WHUS-FM. Much of his radio work at UConn was with the school’s baseball team, but he was able to join the team for the 2016 Women’s Final Four in Indianapolis, as the Huskies earned an unprecedented fourth straight national championship.<\/p>\n

Broadcasting became a family affair, too – coming out of college, Huson landed an internship with the former Root Sports television network in Denver. His dad Jeff had joined the Colorado Rockies as a color commentator on the team’s television broadcasts in 2006, giving the two the chance to once again go to the ballpark together each day, just as they had when Jeff was finishing his playing career with the Cubs. The Frederick Keys minor-league baseball team provided the next opportunity, where Kyle spent two seasons as the Class-A team’s Broadcasting, Public Relations & Community Relations Assistant.<\/p>\n

He added hockey to the list shortly after, joining USA Hockey in its digital content department, as well as contributing to the NHL’s social media efforts. He got a front-row seat to several of the country’s biggest hockey moments of the early 2020s, providing features and content for three World Junior teams, as well as one trip to the World Championships and the 2022 Paralympic gold medal run, in which the Americans outscored their opponents 30-1.<\/p>\n

2021 included a trip to Latvia with the World Championship team featuring former UConn teammate Tage Thompson, as well as the U.S. World Junior team’s title, with the entire tournament played in a “bubble” behind closed doors in Edmonton, Alberta.<\/p>\n

“Being a part of the World Junior team that won gold with Cole Caufield, Trevor Zegras, Spencer Knight, Alex Turcotte, Brock Faber, that team was stacked,” said Huson. “It was so special, because we were sitting in a bubble for a month, and had to quarantine in the hotel for four days before we could even start anything.”<\/p>\n

Today, he works a number of different sports for the University of Wyoming, where his dad was inducted into the school’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 2015. A resume that featured mostly basketball and baseball a decade ago now includes sports such as soccer and lacrosse, as well as color commentary for Colorado College hockey television broadcasts. Much of the work that goes into calling Wyoming and Colorado College sporting events happens well beforehand, with several hours of preparation before the cameras and microphones are ever turned on.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>“You prepare your A material through your Z material, if it’s going to be a blowout or not,” said Huson. “You have to read the game, too – you can’t just be saying something that you want to get in there because you’ve done this prep on it. You think it’s a cool stat, but it has nothing to do with the flow of the game, so I try to keep that in perspective too. Usually, I’ll put the kids to bed and I’ll just sit and watch TV with my wife and do some prep on the computer for a couple of hours, and pulse that out over a few nights.”<\/p>\n

Huson is still putting his storytelling and digital skills to work, as the digital marketing manager for Cascade Maverik Lacrosse, a sister company to Bauer Hockey in a sport that is widely considered one of America’s fastest-growing. He and his wife also have grown their family, with two young children that keep them active.<\/p>\n

“Among all the craziness, my dream has always been to be a dad, and so I’m living my dream right now, even when they’re fussy,” said Huson. “Being with them and watching them grow, the personality that my son is starting to get at three years old, everything is so special and I feel really blessed to be in the position in life where I’m at.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. –\u00a0There’s no doubt: Wenatchee Wild alumnus Kyle Huson comes from a sports family. Younger brother Cody played Division I baseball at Abilene Christian University in Texas. Older sister Lindsay played volleyball at Division II Western Colorado University. His dad, Jeff, enjoyed a 12-year Major League Baseball career with seven teams, including four…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":368,"featured_media":54826,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-54816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-53","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/66\/2026\/07\/20182922\/2025-26-Where-Are-They-Now-Kyle-Huson.jpg",1920,1440,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/368"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54816"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54816\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54827,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54816\/revisions\/54827"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":54819,"date":"2026-07-17T18:03:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T22:03:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/?p=54819"},"modified":"2026-07-17T18:03:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T22:03:26","slug":"wenatchee-alumnus-emerson-signs-first-professional-contract-with-ahls-abbotsford-canucks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/article\/wenatchee-alumnus-emerson-signs-first-professional-contract-with-ahls-abbotsford-canucks","title":{"rendered":"Wenatchee Alumnus Emerson Signs First Professional Contract with AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks"},"content":{"rendered":"

ABBOTSFORD, British Columbia \u2013<\/strong> The Wenatchee Wild, proud members of the Western Hockey League (WHL), are pleased to announce that alumnus Quinn Emerson <\/strong>has signed his first professional contract, joining the American Hockey League\u2019s Abbotsford Canucks for the 2026-27 season on a one-year contract. Emerson played two years for the organization during Wenatchee\u2019s time in the British Columbia Hockey League.<\/p>\n

The native of Manhattan Beach, California recently graduated from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio after an outstanding four-year NCAA Division I career that saw him lead the team in scoring as a senior with 33 points. He piled up 136 games in a Bowling Green uniform over his four years, missing only eight games in his tenure with the Falcons and scoring 65 points in his NCAA career. He was one of only 88 players to be nominated for this year\u2019s Hobey Baker Award, which is awarded annually to the top player in NCAA hockey.<\/p>\n

During his 2019-20 season in Wenatchee, the forward totaled eight goals and eight assists over 53 regular-season games, leading the Wild to the BCHL\u2019s Fred Page Cup playoffs. After spending his 2020-21 campaign in the North American Hockey League with the Lone Star Brahmas, he returned to the Wild in 2021-22 and racked up 14 goals and 23 assists before departing for the college ranks. He briefly held Wenatchee\u2019s Junior A record with seven goals in a single playoff series during the 2021-22 postseason.<\/p>\n

He joins an Abbotsford club only a year removed from its first AHL Calder Cup championship. Last year\u2019s team finished ninth in the AHL\u2019s Pacific Division and out of the Calder Cup playoff race for the first time in its five-year history.<\/p>\n

The Wenatchee Wild congratulate Quinn Emerson for signing his first professional contract with the Abbotsford Canucks, and wish him continued success as he begins the next stage of his hockey career.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ABBOTSFORD, British Columbia \u2013 The Wenatchee Wild, proud members of the Western Hockey League (WHL), are pleased to announce that alumnus Quinn Emerson has signed his first professional contract, joining the American Hockey League\u2019s Abbotsford Canucks for the 2026-27 season on a one-year contract. Emerson played two years for the organization during Wenatchee\u2019s time in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":368,"featured_media":54820,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-54819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-53","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/66\/2026\/07\/17175831\/Professional-Signing-Quinn-Emerson-e1784325595540.png",1920,1920,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/368"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54819"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54819\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54821,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54819\/revisions\/54821"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-wild\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}]