An assistant coach for the Manitoba Moose is moving up to a gig behind an NHL bench.
The team announced Tuesday that Nolan Baumgartner is joining the Ottawa Senators’ coaching staff as an assistant where he will be reunited with new Senators bench boss Travis Green.
Baumgartner says it’s a move he’s looking forward to after working for Green from 2013-17 with Utica of the American Hockey League, and then another four-and-a-half years with the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks.
“He’s a great coach, great mind for the game. And he’s a friend off the ice,” Baumgartner told 680 CJOB.
“We have a great relationship. I love working for him, and when he gave me the call and said it might be a possibility, and if I was interested… I was 100 per cent all in.”
The 48-year-old Baumgartner — who says he’ll be running the Ottawa defence as well as the Senators’ penalty kill — spent the past two seasons with the Moose, but he has a much longer history in Winnipeg.
In his playing career he suited up for 143 NHL games with Washington, Chicago, Vancouver, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Dallas. Baumgartner also spent more than 880 games in the American Hockey League — including parts of seven seasons with the Moose.
“My family and I, we were so excited to get back here to the city,” Baumgartner said.
“My son was born here, and we had so many great years here as a player. It’s bittersweet that we’re leaving again. It’s a little emotional for us because of the ties to the city but it is a great, new adventure and an unbelievable opportunity to coach again in the National Hockey League.”
A three-time AHL all-star and member of that league’s Hall of Fame, Baumgartner also served as captain of the Moose in two separate stints. He sits at third in Moose history for assists, eighth in points, and sixth in games played.
–With files from Kelly Moore