The Wild’s victory over Penticton helped Nachbaur surpass longtime Portland Winterhawks Head Coach Ken Hodge and his 742 wins.

Forward Rui Han recorded his first goal of the season with 1:59 to play in the second period, breaking a 0-0 tie. That goal went on to stand as the game-winning marker, as Colorado Avalanche prospect Tobias Tvrznik locked down the crease, making 40 saves for his first shutout of the campaign.

Now, Nachbaur’s pursuit turns to 752 – the win total held by Don Hay, the winningest coach in WHL history.

The earliest Nachbaur can reach 753 career wins is Sunday, November 14, at Regina.

WENATCHEE WILD SCHEDULE – Upcoming

• Saturday, October 17 versus Kamloops
• Sunday, October 25 versus Kamloops
• Wednesday, October 28 versus Medicine Hat
• Friday, October 30 versus Prince George
• Sunday, November 1 versus Victoria
• Saturday, November 7 versus Everett
• Sunday, November 8 at Penticton
• Wednesday, November 11 at Swift Current
• Friday, November 13 at Brandon
• Saturday, November 14 at Regina

Nachbaur already stands alone as the WHL’s all-time leader in games coached. He reached 1,412 games coached to establish a new record on Friday, November 14, 2025. Through Friday, October 16, he has extended that mark to 1,471 career games coached. His all-time coaching record stands at 743-600-128 following Friday, October 16.

Nachbaur is in his 22nd season as a WHL head coach and third behind the bench for Wenatchee. Prior to his time with the Wild, Nachbaur spent six seasons as Head Coach of the Seattle Thunderbirds (1994-95 to 1999-00), six seasons as Head Coach of the Tri-City Americans (2003-04 to 2008-09), and seven seasons as Head Coach of the Spokane Chiefs (2010-11 to 2016-17).

A three-time winner of the Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy (1994-95, 2007-08, 2010-11), presented annually to the WHL Coach of the Year, Nachbaur’s ties to the WHL are strong. His WHL journey began in 1977-78 as a centre for the Billings Bighorns. Nachbaur played two seasons in the WHL, appearing in 137 regular season games and registering 146 points (67G-79A). He went on to be selected by the Hartford Whalers in the third round of the 1979 NHL Draft and enjoyed a 15-season professional playing career, including 223 NHL games and 469 AHL games, followed by four seasons in Austria to conclude his playing days.

Retiring after the 1993-94 season, Nachbaur moved behind the bench, joining the Seattle Thunderbirds in 1994-95. He guided Seattle to a record of 42-28-2 in his first season and was named WHL Coach of the Year.

In 2007-08, he led the Tri-City Americans to a Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy with a record of 52-16-2-2, resulting in his second WHL Coach of the Year honour.

In 2010-11, Nachbaur’s Spokane Chiefs went 48-18-4-2, earning him his third Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy as WHL Coach of the Year.

Outside his time in the WHL, Nachbaur has spent two seasons as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, along with time in the AHL with the Philadelphia Phantoms, Binghamton Senators, Stockton Heat and Calgary Wranglers. He also coached in Slovakia and Switzerland.

During his career, Nachbaur has represented Canada internationally at the U18 level and was a member of the coaching staff for the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Hometown Giants follows the 2025-26 season of the Giants franchise, featuring part-owners Michael Bublé, global music icon, and Drew Scott, TV personality and entrepreneur, as they set out to restore a team that hasn’t won a championship since 2007. With a new coach and General Manager leading the way, the series captures the bold front-office decisions, roster-shaping trades, and high-pressure moments that define a season on the edge. Blending the drama of elite-level competition with deeply personal coming-of-age stories, all six episodes of Hometown Giants are available now, exclusively on Prime Video.

For the players, hockey is only part of the story. They’re teenagers living away from home, finishing high school, navigating first relationships, and chasing NHL dreams they’ve built their lives around, even though only a few will ever make it. Rookies adjust to the speed and intensity of major junior hockey while veterans fight for their place. And as the trade deadline looms, top prospect Ryan Lin faces the spotlight, Torretto Marrelli fights to stay, and the team makes season-defining moves, all while injuries threaten to derail everything.

Hometown Giants delivers unfiltered access to the players, families, coaches, and owners navigating a season where NHL dreams hang in the balance and every shift could make or break a future. Hometown Giants is produced by Scott Brothers Entertainment in association with Amazon MGM Studios.

The series joins Prime Video’s world-class lineup of Canadian and global Prime Originals, hit TV shows and blockbuster films, and live sports including NBA on Prime and recently announced NHL on Prime Wednesday Night Hockey. Combined with subscriptions and thousands of titles available to rent or buy, Prime Video continues to be the one-stop entertainment destination for Canadian customers.

About Prime Video

Prime Video is a first-stop entertainment destination offering customers a vast selection of premium movies, series and live sports in one app across thousands of devices. Customers can discover Prime Originals from Amazon MGM Studios alongside an unmatched library of licensed movies and series; Prime-exclusive live sports including NHL, NBA, WNBA, PWHL; and playback features like X-Ray that enhance the viewing experience.

All customers, with or without Prime, can also access 100+ add-on streaming subscriptions (Apple TV+, BritBox, Crave, Citytv+, Hayu, Paramount+, RDS, Sportsnet, STACKTV, STARZ, Super Channel, TSN, TVA Sports, and more), and the largest selection of titles available to rent or buy.

Prime Video is one of many benefits including with a Prime membership, which bundles savings, convenience, and entertainment. Prime members can share benefits, including Prime Video, through Amazon Family.

For more information on Prime Video, visit www.primevideo.ca.

About Amazon

Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Amazon strives to be Earth’s Most Customer-Centric Company, Earth’s Best Employer, and Earth’s Safest Place to Work. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Career Choice, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, Alexa, Just Walk Out technology, Amazon Studios, and The Climate Pledge are some of the things pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.aboutamazon.ca and follow @AmazonNews.

About the Western Hockey League

Regarded as the world’s finest development league for junior hockey players, the Western Hockey League (WHL) head office is based in Calgary, Alberta. The WHL consists of 23 member Clubs with 17 located in Western Canada and six in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. A member of the Canadian Hockey League, the WHL has been a leading supplier of talent for the National Hockey League for over 60 years. The WHL is also the leading provider of hockey scholarships with over 375 graduates each year receiving WHL Scholarships to pursue a post-secondary education of their choice. Each season, WHL players also form the nucleus of Canada’s National Junior Hockey Team.

T1 Agency study highlights visitor spending, while charitable support, scholarships and arena upgrades extend the tournament’s community legacy

The 2026 Memorial Cup presented by Kubota generated an estimated $50.9 million in new spending in Greater Kelowna, the largest recorded economic impact for a Memorial Cup host community, according to the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). The findings of the economic impact study, conducted by T1 Agency, were announced today by the CHL and the Kelowna 2026 Memorial Cup Host Organizing Committee.

Hosted by the Western Hockey League’s Kelowna Rockets from May 21–31, the CHL’s championship event drew sellout crowds throughout the tournament at Prospera Place, with 47,780 tickets sold. The 11-day event culminated with the Ontario Hockey League’s Kitchener Rangers capturing their third Memorial Cup championship.

“The Memorial Cup showcases the best of the best from across the CHL, and Kelowna demonstrated the immense value this event can bring to a community,” said Dan MacKenzie, President of the CHL. “From sellout crowds and visitor spending to support for local charities, students and community facilities, the impact reached well beyond the rink. That is the legacy we want our championship to leave in the communities that welcome us.”

Commissioned by the CHL, the study examined spending attributable to the tournament in Greater Kelowna, drawing on more than 500 survey responses. According to its findings, many visiting fans stayed for a week or longer, combining their time at the rink with local experiences such as wine tours, golf, boating and hiking, extending the event’s benefits to businesses throughout the region.

“The results of the impact assessment of the 2026 Memorial Cup are very positive. The Memorial Cup is clearly a mega-event in Canada, one that brings in thousands of people and millions of dollars to its local market,” said Norm O’Reilly, Partner, T1 Agency. “For 2026, Kelowna was an excellent destination for an event like this. Visitors travelled from far and wide, spent across a range of local businesses and tourism experiences, and were highly satisfied with their stay. That combination generated considerable benefits for businesses and the broader community.”

Beyond visitor spending, the tournament’s community contributions total $137,000 in charitable support and scholarship funding, including $50,000 for Kelowna Minor Hockey to help families cover registration and equipment costs, and $37,000 for the Child & Youth Advocacy Centre of Kelowna.

The Memorial Cup Legacy Scholarship Program will provide $50,000 of that total in funding to students at UBC Okanagan and Okanagan College over the next five years. Launched in 2022, the program already supports students in Saint John, Kamloops, Saginaw and Rimouski, and will expand to Guelph following the 2027 Memorial Cup.

The event also helped accelerate improvements to Prospera Place. As part of preparations for the tournament, the City of Kelowna invested $3.8 million in venue upgrades, including a new centre-hung LED video board, a professional audio system, more than 75 new screens, arena-wide Wi-Fi, two new electric ice resurfacers and upgraded media facilities. These improvements will continue to serve the Rockets, other arena users and future events.

“We’re thrilled at the results of the economic impact study. We saw the excitement throughout the tournament, and it’s incredibly rewarding to see that reflected in such a significant benefit for our local economy,” said Steve Thomson, Co-Chair, 2026 Memorial Cup Host Organizing Committee. “This result is a credit to our community partners, local businesses, volunteers and everyone who helped welcome fans to Kelowna. As an organizing committee, we couldn’t be prouder of what our community accomplished together.”

The 2027 Memorial Cup presented by Kubota will be hosted by the Ontario Hockey League’s Guelph Storm in Guelph, Ontario, from May 20–30, 2027.

About the Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup is the Canadian Hockey League’s iconic championship event, bringing together the league champions of the Western Hockey League (WHL), Ontario Hockey League (OHL), and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), along with a host team, in a four-club round-robin tournament to crown the CHL champion. First awarded in 1919, the Memorial Cup has become one of the most storied and prestigious trophies in hockey, shaping more than a century of junior hockey history in North America.

Originally donated by the Ontario Hockey Association to honour Canadian soldiers who gave their lives in the First World War, the trophy was rededicated in 2010 to commemorate all fallen members of the Canadian Armed Forces. Today, the Memorial Cup stands as a powerful symbol of remembrance, sacrifice, and national pride, while showcasing the best junior hockey talent in the world.