Thursday, January 12, 2012

NACHBAUR EARNS WHL WIN NO. 500

Press Release

Spokane, WA – Don Nachbaur, head coach of the Spokane Chiefs, joined the WHL’s 500-win club after guiding the Chiefs to a 6-1 victory over the Everett Silvertips on Wednesday, January 11th, in Spokane, WA.

Nachbaur joins an exclusive group consisting of legends Ken Hodge (742 wins), Ernie ‘Punch’ McLean (548) and Pat Ginnell (518), and active WHL coaches Don Hay of the Vancouver Giants (547) and Lorne Molleken of the Saskatoon Blades (544) as the only WHL coaches with 500 career regular-season victories.

Nachbaur is in his second season as the head coach of the Spokane Chiefs and his 14th season as a head coach in the WHL. The native of Kitimat, B.C., began his WHL career as a player for the Billings Bighorns from 1977-79, and was drafted by the Hartford Whalers in the third round of the 1979 NHL Entry Draft.

Having played 233 games in the NHL with the Whalers, Edmonton Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers, and four years overseas, Nachbaur began his WHL coaching career with the Seattle Thunderbirds in 1994-95, guiding the T-Birds to the 1997 WHL final.

Nachbaur also spent six seasons at the helm of the Tri-City Americans, leading the Ams to back-to-back U.S. Division titles in 2007-08 and 2008-09.

Nachbaur is also a three-time recipient of the Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s Coach of the Year, earning the award with the Thunderbirds in 1994-95, with the Americans in 2007-08, and with the Chiefs in 2010-11. He is the only coach in WHL history to have won WHL Coach of the Year honors with three different teams.

Congratulations to Don Nachbaur on reaching the 500-win milestone!

(Nathan can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)

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