Hockey Operations Staff

After spending two seasons working on Troy Mann’s staff as an assistant coach, Helmer was named the Vice President of Hockey Operations following the retirement of General Manager Doug Yingst. Helmer, a native of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, oversees the day-to-day operations of the club’s hockey department. He works closely with the team's coaching staff, as well as the Washington Capitals, Hershey’s NHL affiliate, on all decisions involving players and personnel. Under his watch, the Bears claimed their 12th Calder Cup title in franchise history in 2022-23, joining Hockey Hall of Famer Frank Mathers as only the second former Bears player to lead the team to a championship as an executive. Upon the conclusion of the 2022-23 season, Helmer was also named the recipient of the 2023 James C. Hendy Memorial Award as the AHL’s outstanding executive of the year.

Helmer was inducted in the AHL Hall of Fame in 2017 after an illustrious playing career. He is the AHL’s all-time leader in points by a defenseman. He recorded 564 points (129 goals, 435 assists) in a remarkable 20-year career that totaled 1,117 regular-season games. Helmer is also the AHL’s all-time leader in Calder Cup playoff appearances, having played in 159 postseason games. He won three Calder Cups in his career, including captaining the Bears to back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010. Helmer also played 146 games in the NHL with Phoenix, St. Louis, Vancouver, and Washington, totaling 26 points (eight goals, 18 assists).

Prior to returning to Hershey, Helmer served as an assistant coach with the Peterborough Petes of the OHL in 2013-14. Helmer resides in the Hershey area with his wife Pam. He has a son, Cade, and a daughter, Rylan.

Nelson boasts vast coaching experience and a championship pedigree. 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.

In his accomplished professional career, Nelson has won seven championships, including one as a player, one as a player/assistant coach, one as an assistant coach, four 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. Upon winning the Calder Cup with Hershey in 2023, Nelson joined AHL Hall of Famers Bun Cook and John Paddock as only the third head coach in league history to win the Calder Cup with two different teams.

In Nelson’s tenure as an AHL head coach, he worked parts of nine seasons with Hershey (2022-present), Oklahoma City (2010-15), and Grand Rapids (2015-18), posting a 352-208-21-51 (.613) regular season record.

Additionally, Nelson owns a 56-37 (.602) record in 93 career Calder Cup Playoff games. As a head coach, he’s helped his team qualify for the Calder Cup Playoffs in all nine seasons he’s worked in the AHL.

Nelson earned AHL All-Star Classic coaching nods in 2012, 2017, and 2023. 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.

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 AHL regular season champions. 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.

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 regular season play before ultimately claiming the franchise’s 11th 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.

Following his departure from Hershey, Wellar served as a player/assistant coach with the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies in 2014-15, and Alaska Aces in 2015-16. Upon his retirement, Wellar moved behind the bench permanently as an assistant coach with the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones, guiding the club to a 36-29-6-1 record in 2015-16. He joined the ECHL’s Reading Royals for the 2017-18 season in the same capacity, helping the club secure a playoff berth with a 39-24-9-0 record, good for a third place in the North Division.

In his 12-year playing career, Wellar, a third round selection of the Capitals in 2002, amassed over 300 games in the AHL, making stops in Peoria, Worcester, Toronto, and Hershey. His resume also includes 441 games at the ECHL level, including an All-Star Game appearance in 2005. Wellar won the Kelly Cup three times, including with Alaska in 2006, South Carolina in 2009, and Reading in 2013.

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 (.562) in 929 career IHL and ECHL games with Kalamazoo, helping the club qualify for the playoffs nine times.

While at the helm of Kalamazoo, 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. His 853 games coached and 437 wins in the ECHL rank seventh all-time in league history.

In his playing career, Bootland skated in parts of three 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.

During the 2022-23 campaign, Leholta oversaw Hershey’s netminders which surrendered just 2.56 goals per game, the second lowest total in the American Hockey League.

Lehtola joined the Bears from his native Finland where he worked with in the country's top league, Liiga, for HPK Hameenlinna as goaltending coach and video coach since 2016. He was part of HPK's 2018-19 club that won the league championship, and the former netminder was a product of HPK's junior program during his playing days.

The native of Hameenlinna, Finland was selected as the goaltending coach for Finland in the 2021 and 2022 World Junior Championships.

From 2011-13, Lehtola worked alongside Washington Capitals goalie coach Scott Murray with the Ontario Hockey League's Sudbury Wolves. He served as Murray's assistant goaltending coach and also held the video coach title during the 2011-13 campaign.

Prior to joining the Bears, Purner was the video coach for the Devils’ AHL affiliate, working in Binghamton in 2020-21 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.

The Peoria, Ill. native worked for his hometown Peoria Rivermen of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) in 2019-20 as the club's athletic trainer. He was named the SPHL's Athletic Trainer of the Year, a distinction selected by fellow SPHL equipment managers and athletic trainers. Additionally, he has experience working at the Deaflympics representing Team USA. He was part of the club's gold medal win in December of 2019.

Finley is a graduate of Northern Illinois University where he played hockey for the school's ACHA team. He also played junior hockey for the Peoria Mustangs in the NA3HL.

Freter joined Victoria full-time in 2020, overseeing the team's daily fitness initiatives, including workouts, lifts, mobility, and rehabilitation. Additionally, he served as the team's equipment manager and assisted with the organization's medical information.

The graduate of the University of Saskatchewan and Camosun College also has experience with Crash Conditioning where he worked as the director of sports performance and integration. He joined the organization in 2017 as an intern, and took over as the lead sport performance coach in 2021, where he worked with over 150 athletes each year, including numerous NHL players and prospects.

Freter, a native of Lloydminster, Alberta, has also worked the IIHF World Junior Championships in team services and previously served as a training camp volunteer for the NHL's Vancouver Canucks.

Carter has been around the Bears his whole life, and worked as a stick boy and locker room attendant for the Bears from the time he was 12 to his graduation from Elizabethtown High School in 2010. Carter is a 2013 graduate of California University of Pennsylvania, where played hockey for the Vulcans and served as their equipment manager.

He spent the 2013-14 season as an Assistant Equipment Manager for the Anaheim Ducks before returning to Hershey to take the position of Head Equipment Manager. His uncle, Doug "Sluggo" Shearer, was the equipment manager for the Anaheim Ducks until 2018, and was a former equipment manager for the Washington Capitals (1983-2007) and Bears (1981-83).

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.