The Minnesota Wilderness of the North American Hockey League (NAHL)
are pleased to announce that they have promoted Jon Vaillancourt to the position of Head Coach for the upcoming 2019-20 season.
Current Head Coach Dave Boitz will remain in his General Manager role which he has held for the past six seasons.
“After much consideration and discussions with the team owners we decided it was best for the organization and our players to have a separate and full-time General Manager and a separate full time Head Coach,” stated Boitz. “I have worked with Jon over the summer months and have been very impressed with his leadership and coaching abilities. He is clearly ready to take this next step.”
“Joe Dusek and I are very supportive of Dave’s decision to return to the General Manager’s role and give Jon the opportunity to lead our team,” said Chris Trapp, President & Owner of the Wilderness.
Vaillancourt is originally from La Valle, Wisconsin and has spent the last two seasons as the Head Coach and General Manager for the Coulee Region Chill in the NA3HL.
In Vaillancourt’s inaugural season
with the Coulee Region Chill (then La Crosse Freeze), the team posted a record of 34-12-1, claiming the Central Division Championship Title, with six players moving on to the NAHL.
This past season, the Coulee Region Chill captured the regular season Central Division Championship with a program record of 36-9-2. That also included 10 NCAA commitments from the 2018-19 team.
Vaillancourt has also coached in both the 2018 and 2019 NA3HL Top Prospects Tournaments.
Prior to coaching, Vaillancourt played four years at Framingham State University NCAA D3 and was as named one of the captains his senior year. After college, he joined the Elmira Jackals of the ECHL before transitioning into coaching. Prior to joining the Coulee Region Chill, Jon spent four years as an Assistant Coach with the Hampton Roads Whalers. During this time, Vaillancourt also served as a Strength and Conditioning Coach and Skills Development Coach in the ECHL with the Norfolk Admirals.
