Hockey Operations Staff

Nelson brings vast coaching experience and a championship pedigree to Hershey. The veteran bench boss has experience in the United Hockey League, American Hockey League, and NHL. The native of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan spent the previous four seasons prior to joining the Bears as an assistant coach for the NHL's Dallas Stars, and returned to Hershey after skating in one season with the club during his playing career, donning the Chocolate and White during the 1995-96 campaign.

Overall in his accomplished professional career, Nelson has won six championships, including one as a player, one as a player/assistant coach, one as an assistant coach, and three as a head coach. Nelson led Grand Rapids to a Calder Cup Championship in 2017, becoming only the third person in AHL history to win the Calder Cup as a player (1994, Portland), assistant coach (2008, Chicago) and head coach, joining former Bears Bob Woods and Mike Stothers on that exclusive list.

In Nelson's tenure as an AHL head coach, he worked parts of eight seasons with Oklahoma City (2010-15) and Grand Rapids (2015-18), posting a 309-189-16-47 (.607) regular season record. Additionally, Nelson owns a 42-31 (.575) record in 73 career Calder Cup Playoff games. As a head coach, he's helped his team qualify for the Calder Cup Playoffs in all eight seasons he's worked in the AHL.

Nelson earned AHL All-Star Classic coaching nods in 2012 and 2017. With Grand Rapids, he helped 24 Griffins move on to the NHL, including current Washington Capitals Nick Jensen and Anthony Mantha.

In the NHL, Nelson was named the interim head coach of Edmonton Oilers on Nov. 15, 2014, guiding the club to a 17-22-7 record in the season's final 46 games. He also has experience as an assistant coach with Atlanta (2008-10), Edmonton (2014), and most recently with Dallas (2018-22). Nelson served as part of Rick Bowness' staff in 2019-20 as the Stars reached the Stanley Cup Final.

Overall, Nelson owns a 475-269-48-47 (.623) record as a professional head coach. He spent three seasons (2003-06) as head coach of the UHL’s Muskegon Fury, winning consecutive Colonial Cups (2004, 2005). He won his first Colonial Cup with Muskegon during the 2001-02 season while serving as a player/assistant coach.

Over his 887-game playing career, Nelson skated in three NHL regular season games, including two for the Capitals, notching his lone NHL goal with Washington on Apr. 12, 1994 versus Winnipeg. He also appeared in four postseason games with the Capitals during the 1994 Stanley Cup Playoffs. With the Bears in 1995-96, Nelson logged the most productive season of his 12-year playing career, collecting 50 points (10g, 40a) in 70 games.

Bootland became head coach of Kalamazoo in 2008-09 when the club was a member of the International Hockey League, and continued with the organization in its shift to the ECHL. He owned a coaching record of 481-366-82 in 929 career IHL and ECHL games with Kalamazoo, helping the club qualify for the playoffs nine times.

While at the helm, he guided the Wings to an appearance in the 2011 Kelly Cup Finals and in his tenure, the team won four division championships and one conference championship.

In his playing career, Bootland skated in parts of four seasons with the Bears from 1998-03. The forward appeared in 208 career games with the Chocolate and White, posting 42 points (15g, 27a) and 350 penalty minutes. The Shelburne, Ontario native spent the last three seasons of his career in Kalamazoo, serving as team captain. In 2006, he led the K-Wings to a UHL championship, capturing Colonial Cup Playoffs Most Valuable Player honors with 16 points (10g, 6a) in 13 playoff games.

Prior to joining the Bears, Purner was the video coach for the Devils’ AHL affiliate, working in Binghamton in 2020-2 and in Utica during the 2021-22 campaign. The Glens Falls, New York native also has experience with USA Hockey, serving as the video coordinator for the Women’s National Team at the 2022 IIHF Women’s World Championship.

Additionally, Purner was a goalie video analyst for the St. Louis Blues in 2020, and worked for the Western Hockey League’s Portland Winterhawks as hockey video coordinator from 2016-19, and held the title of video coach in 2019-20.

In the 2020-21 season, Fliszar was part of the group of AHL Trainers awarded the Yanick Dupre Memorial Award for their efforts during the pandemic. He joined the Bears from the ECHL’s Atlanta Gladiators where he worked as the club’s head athletic trainer during the 2019-20 season. Prior to moving to Georgia, Fliszar gained experience with the ECHL’s Norfolk Admirals, first serving as an athletic training intern, then being hired as the club’s head athletic trainer in 2018.

A native of Allentown, Pennsylvania, Fliszar holds a bachelor’s degree from DeSales University and a master’s degree from Moravian College. He also has past experience as an athletic training intern at Old Dominion University, Lehigh University, and Palisades High School.

A Hershey native, Wagner has experience working with the University of Maryland, Millersville University, and most recently Villanova University. Wagner has a Masters Degree in Exercise Science and Health Promotion with a concentration in Injury Prevention and Performance Enhancement. He resides in the Hershey area with his wife Katrina, son Reid, and daughter Katerina.

The Elizabethtown native and is no stranger to the Hershey organization. He returned to Central Pennsylvania with the Bears after serving as the head equipment manager for the 2017 Clark Cup Champion Chicago Steel of the United States Hockey League. With the Steel, Filepas was responsible for all team equipment needs including skate sharpening, jersey embroidery, equipment repair, and overseeing the team's ordering and inventory.

From 2008-12, Filepas worked with the Bears as a stick boy and locker room attendant, assisting during Hershey's Calder Cup Championship seasons in 2009 and 2010. Additionally, he worked at ProSkate, a hockey pro shop at Klick Lewis Arena in Palmyra.