BCHL, Coastal Conference

Wild signs general manager Bliss Littler to a 10-year contract extension

Written by Brian Wiebe on

 

The Wenatchee Wild has signed general manager Bliss Littler to a 10-year contract extension that starts with the 2021-22 season and concludes at the end of the 2030-31 BC Hockey League season.

“The success we have achieved as an organization is due to the vision and dedication of Bliss and his team of professionals. His family is very close to our hearts, and we love that they are an important part of the Wild success as well,” said Wild owner David White in a news release.

“We couldn’t be prouder of our staff and our community, and look forward to many more years of great hockey.”

“I have worked for many good owners over the last thirty years. It is easy to recognize that the Whites are very special and caring people that have made this an easy decision for my family and me,” said Littler. “We couldn’t be more excited to continue the work that we have been part of for the last nine years.”

Littler has been Wild GM since it joined the BCHL as an expansion team in 2015. In fact, he started out in Wenatchee in 2012-13 as GM and head coach of the Wild when it was a North American Hockey League franchise.

He served as head coach of the Wild until stepping down for health reasons in December 2019. Littler finished his coaching career in the BCHL with a 164-75-20-5 record and was named the recipient of the Joe Tennant Memorial Trophy as coach of the year in 2017 and 2018.

Since the 2015-16 season, Wenatchee has won nine playoff series, including the Fred Page Cup and Doyle Cup in 2018. The Wild also finished first overall in the BCHL during the 2016-17 season.

Littler’s career before joining the Wild

Littler’s coaching career started in 1993 with the Billings Bulls of the now-defunct American Frontier Hockey League. He then spent a decade coaching in the US Hockey League with Topeka, Tri-City, and Omaha.

The Minot, North Dakota native is the winningest coach in US junior hockey with 836 career victories behind the bench and a win percentage of .635.

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.