Wheeling Nailers won't renew coach's contract
The Wheeling Nailers have decided to part ways with coach Mike Bavis.
The Penguins’ ECHL affiliate announced Monday it will not renew the contract of Bavis, who coached the team for the past two seasons. The Nailers went 55-61-15 under Bavis. They missed the playoffs last season and were in last place in the six-team Central Division when this season was canceled by the coronavirus outbreak.
“We would like to thank Mike for the work he did for our organization, and we wish him the best as he moves forward,” Nailers governor Don Rigby said in a press release. “We remain committed to putting a winning team on the ice, and believe it is in the best interest of the team to move in a different direction for the 2020-21 season.”
The Nailers hired Bavis on short notice in the summer of 2018 after the team’s first choice for a new head coach, Mark Dennehy, was hired away by the AHL’s Binghamton Devils before ever coaching a game in Wheeling.
After hiring Bavis, the Penguins had Boston University products coaching all three teams in the organization. Now, Mike Sullivan is the last Terrier left standing. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Clark Donatelli was replaced by Mike Vellucci after last season and Bavis was let go Monday.
Jonathan Bombulie is the TribLive assistant sports editor. A Greensburg native, he was a hockey reporter for two decades, covering the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for 17 seasons before joining the Trib in 2015 and covering the Penguins for four seasons, including Stanley Cup championships in 2016-17. He can be reached at jbombulie@triblive.com.
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