The Portland Winterhawks have rounded out their coaching staff for the 2024-25 season, bringing back a familiar face to help behind the bench. After a successful playing career, Sven Bärtschi is back in the Rose City, as he starts his coaching career with the Winterhawks. Bärtschi will be joined by Mike Fanelli, who was also hired as an assistant coach on Wednesday, as well as Travis Hoy, who is the team’s new goaltender coach.
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Before his pro career, Bärtschi was lighting up the WHL with Portland. During his two seasons, he recorded 179 points in 113 games and helped the Winterhawks to back-to-back WHL Finals. His strong 2010-11 season also led him to be drafted in the first round of the 2011 NHL Draft, going 13th overall to the Calgary Flames.
As for the other two hires, Fanelli recently served as the Edmonton Oilers Video and Coaching Analytics Coordinator during the 2023-24 season. He also won two Stanley Cup championships while working for the Tampa Bay Lightning in its analytics department from 2017 to 2021.
Lastly, Hoy joins the Winterhawks staff after spending the last seven seasons as the Vernon Vipers goaltending coach in the BCHL. He also served as a goaltending development coach for RINK Hockey Academy Kelowna of the CSSHL since 2021. Hoy takes over for Brendan Burke, who has been the goaltender coach for the last two seasons.
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