The Hershey Bears announced today that Brent Thompson has been named assistant coach. The announcement was made by Hershey Bears vice president of hockey operations Bryan Helmer and Washington Capitals senior vice president and general manager Chris Patrick.
Thompson, 54, returns to Hershey where he played three seasons with the Bears from 2000-03, and served as the club's captain during his final season with Hershey in 2002-03. The Calgary, Alberta native spent the last two seasons in the National Hockey League as an assistant coach with the Anaheim Ducks.
Thompson served as head coach of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers/Islanders franchise over two separate stints from 2011-12 and 2014-23, leading the club to a 328-286-49-24 (.531) record. His 328 head coaching wins in the American Hockey League are tied for 18th in league history. Between his two segments as Bridgeport's head coach, he served as an assistant coach with the New York Islanders from 2012-14.
Thompson's AHL coaching experience also includes four seasons as an assistant coach with the Peoria Rivermen from 2005-09 after beginning his coaching career as a player-assistant coach with the Colorado Eagles, then of the Central Hockey League, in 2003-04.
He served as a head coach of the ECHL's Alaska Aces from 2009-11, compiling an 83-50-6-5 record. He led the Aces to a Kelly Cup championship in 2011 and was named the recipient of the John Brophy Award as the ECHL's coach of the year following a league-best 47-22-2-1 record in the regular season.
Selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the second round (39th overall) of the 1989 NHL Draft, Thompson's 15-year playing career was also highlighted by 121 games in the NHL with Los Angeles and Phoenix, accumulating 11 points (1g, 10a) and 352 penalty minutes.
As a player, Thompson earned the AHL's Yanick Dupré Memorial Award in 1998-99 as a member of the Hartford Wolf Pack for his outstanding community involvement. His 2,084 penalty minutes rank seventh in league history. During his tenure with Hershey, Thompson skated in 155 career games with the Chocolate and White, collecting 45 points (10g, 35a) and 356 penalty minutes.
Thompson takes over for former Hershey assistant coach Patrick Wellar who was promoted to an identical role with the Washington Capitals earlier today. Wellar spent the last seven seasons behind the bench with Hershey, helping the club capture back-to-back Calder Cup championships in 2023 and 2024.
Wellar, 41, was named to Hershey's staff on July 17, 2018. In his seven seasons on the bench in Chocolatetown, Wellar served under head coaches Spencer Carbery (2018-21), Scott Allen (2021-22), and Todd Nelson (2022-25), helping lead the club to a record of 279-135-27-22 in 463 regular-season games, for a points percentage of .656, while primarily working with Hershey's defensemen and penalty-killing units.
Under his watch, the Bears were the AHL's best defensive team in 2020-21, allowing just 2.33 goals per game, en route to winning the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy as the AHL's top team in the regular season. In 2022-23, Hershey allowed a league-low 26.19 shots against per game and finished second out of 32 teams in the regular season allowing just 2.56 goals per game, before winning the 2023 Calder Cup championship. The following year, the Bears yielded the fewest goals against per game (2.10) and shots against per game (25.97) of any team in the league en route to another Kilpatrick Trophy and a second consecutive Calder Cup championship, while the club set franchise records for best points percentage (.771) and penalty kill percentage (87.69). In the 2024-25 campaign, the Bears set another franchise mark for shots against per game (25.94).
A former defender, Wellar was a stalwart on Hershey's blue line during his playing career. He was part of Hershey's 2010 Calder Cup Championship team that went 60-17-0-3 in the regular season before ultimately claiming the franchise's 11th playoff title. In total, the Carrot River, Saskatchewan native appeared in 260 games with Hershey, scoring 46 points (7 goals, 39 assists), and posting a +24 rating. He also appeared in 36 playoff contests with the club.
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
vs
