Coastal Conference

Rivermen bring in Burt Henderson as general manager and head coach

Written by Brian Wiebe on

 

The Langley Rivermen have hired Burt Henderson as their new general manager and head coach, announcing the addition of the Burnaby product on Tuesday.

The 46-year-old Henderson joins the Rivermen after spending two seasons with the Langley Trappers of the Pacific Junior Hockey League as their president and head coach.

“Henderson steps into this role immediately and will be working to prepare for the 2021-22 BCHL season,” the Rivermen said in a news release.

Prior to joining the Trappers in 2018-19, Henderson was a skills coach for the Rivermen.

He also spent the 2019-20 season as an assistant coach with West Van Academy U15 Prep in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League. Henderson succeeds his cousin Bobby as Langley’s GM and head coach. The latter and the Rivermen parted ways in March.

As a player, Henderson played two seasons in the BCHL with Bellingham and Kelowna, tallying 11 goals, 36 assists in 75 games. He then spent three seasons in the Western Hockey League before embarking on a 13-year pro career that took him from the US to Japan to the United Kingdon.

Rivermen remain a family affair

The Rivermen co-owners were previously listed on the team’s website as Roy and John Henderson, who are Burt’s uncle and dad respectively. Roy was also listed as team president while John was chief executive officer.

Another of Burt’s cousins, Taylor, was included on the website as Langley’s director of operations while his cousin-in-law Alana served as special events coordinator.

The Rivermen hired Bobby as an assistant coach when the franchise launched in Langley in 2011. He spent one season in that role before taking over as head coach and GM when Steve O’Rourke resigned in March 2012.

During Henderson’s time at the helm, Langley went 226-182-41-13 and made the playoffs in eight straight seasons. He was named BCHL coach of the year following the 2013-14 season.

Brian's been involved in the BCHL in a variety of capacities for 17 years. From 2002 to 2012, he served in several roles around the Merritt Centennials organization, including as team president, board member, beat writer, colour commentator, webmaster, media and communications coordinator and marketing assistant. He's been writing about the BCHL since 2008 and served as colour commentator on the TSN 1040 broadcasts in 2012-13. BCHLNetwork is one of Brian's many passion projects that he balances around his full-time job as an instructor in the Radio Arts and Entertainment Program at BCIT in Burnaby.