OWNERSHIP – David and Lisa White
David and Lisa White made the leap into owning a junior hockey team in the inaugural 2009-2010 season with the Fresno Monsters in Fresno, California. This was few years after supporting local youth hockey, and then helping bring juniors to the area. Following the Monsters’ successful first season, the decision was made to have two junior hockey programs in Fresno, adding one in the North American Hockey League for the 2010-2011 season. This was to add a rung on the local development ladder as was present in the USA Hockey development model. The new NAHL team was in the same division with the Wenatchee Wild. David and Lisa White’s son Gunner would earn a spot on the Fresno Monsters’ roster, playing stints for both junior hockey teams. Gunner’s love for hockey was the reason the family grew an interest in developing 16-20 year old elite level players.
In spring of 2013, it was announced that the Wenatchee Wild’s former ownership group had plans to cease operations in Wenatchee and relocate the franchise to Texas. After several years of frequenting Wenatchee to watch the Fresno Monsters play there, David and Lisa White felt a huge connection to the town of Wenatchee. The amazing fans, the stunning arena, and the exceptional coaching staff. After several seasons with Wenatchee as the closest travel partner (1,000 miles away), and with the practice arena in Fresno unexpectedly shut down, the couple knew what they had to do. With league recommendation and support they decided to relocate the NAHL Fresno Monsters franchise to Wenatchee to keep the Wenatchee Wild train rolling – same team name and logo, same front office staff, and same coaching staff in place for what they hoped was a seamless transition for the players and fans.
In the 2015-2016 season, the Wenatchee Wild made the move to the British Columbia Hockey League as the only team in the United States. The transition to the BCHL would prove fruitful for David and Lisa. Besides a much better team travel situation, the Wenatchee Wild went on to become the 2018 BCHL Fred Page Cup Champion and the 2018 Doyle Cup Champion. This was their first junior hockey championship – an honor in which the couple are very proud of for the whole Wild organization.
With a career spanning 34 seasons behind the bench, Wenatchee Wild General Manager Bliss Littler is USA Hockey’s all time Tier 1 and Tier 2 winningest coach, with 836 regular season wins and a winning percentage of .635. The last 11 of those years were in the northwest with the Wenatchee Wild. Prior to arriving in Wenatchee, Bliss spent 11 years in the United States Hockey League as a Head Coach/General Manager with the Omaha Lancers, Tri-City Storm, and the Topeka Scarecrows. Five times he served as a coach for USA Hockey in international competitions. He launched his coaching career by spending seven years with the Billings Bulls of the AFHL and AWHL where he won five Borne Cups. He sported an overall record of 326-210-59 in the USHL, winning one Anderson Cup. In his career, he has coached over 300 players who moved on to play Division I hockey. He has also coached 25 NHL draft picks, including two first round picks, and seen more than 20 of his former players advance to the NHL. He also holds a Bachelor Degree in General Studies from Minot State University. Bliss is married to his wife Gretchen, and they have two children, Cade and Grace. They make their full-time home here in the Wenatchee Valley.
Roy Sommer
Head Coach
The Wenatchee Wild are excited to welcome Roy Sommer to the Wild family as the team’s new head coach. Sommer comes to Wenatchee after spending the 2022-23 season as head coach of the San Diego Gulls of the American Hockey League.
A native of Oakland, California, Sommer brings with him an extensive AHL and NHL coaching resume, with all but one of those seasons spent in the San Jose Sharks organization. His 828 AHL coaching wins are far and away the most in league history, and his 25-season run as an AHL bench boss is also a league record. His teams won four division titles, and he earned the AHL’s Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as its outstanding coach during the 2016-17 season, in which the San Jose Barracuda won a franchise-best 43 games and made a run to the Western Conference final. During his professional coaching career, more than 150 of his players moved on to play in the NHL. He served twice as an NHL coach, first assisting under Al Sims and Darryl Sutter for the Sharks from 1996 to 1998, and again stepping behind the Sharks’ bench as an associate coach during the 2019-20 campaign.
Sommer enjoyed a 10-year professional playing career after being drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs, scoring a goal in his NHL debut with the Edmonton Oilers in 1981 and leading the AHL’s Maine Mariners to a Calder Cup championship in 1984. His rise to the NHL as a player and coach began in the Western Hockey League, making his debut with the Edmonton Oil Kings before spending two years on the ice with the Calgary Centennials. He also briefly served as an assistant coach in the WHL, as a member of the Prince Albert Raiders’ staff during the 1988-89 season.
Sommer and his wife, Melissa, have three children together: sons Marley and Castan, who is an assistant coach at NCAA Division I Holy Cross, and daughter Kira.
Chris Clark
Associate Head Coach / Assistant General Manager
cclark@wenatcheewildhockey.com
Chris has been a part of the Wenatchee Wild coaching staff since the team’s inception in 2008. As assistant coach, Chris helped and worked with 8 NCAA Division I, 3 WHL and 2 NHL drafted goaltenders. He served as Head Coach from December 2019 to June 2023.
Prior to joining the Wenatchee Wild, Chris spent the 2007-08 season as a graduate assistant at Division I Minnesota State University – Mankato (WCHA).
Chris played college hockey for the Minnesota State University -Mankato Mavericks from 2003 to 2007, when he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Sports Management and a minor in Marketing. Chris was a member of the WCHA All-Academic team from 2004-2007 and received the Mavericks Most Improved Player in 2004-05. He was honored in the 2007 WCHA Final Five program for his volunteer work in the Mankato community.
Before moving on to college, Chris played junior hockey from 2001 to 2003 in the BCHL and was a member of the 2001-02 Fred Page Cup Champion Victoria Salsa.
Chris and his wife Julie live in Wenatchee with their son Cooper and their dog Madison.
Andrew Sarauer
Assistant Coach
asarauer@wenatcheewildhockey.com
Andrew joins the Wild in 2023-24 for his first season in Wenatchee after a 15-year professional playing career in the United States and Europe.
Hailing from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Sarauer played junior hockey for the Victoria Salsa and Langley Hornets in the British Columbia Hockey League before embarking on a four-year NCAA Division I playing career at Northern Michigan University. His professional playing career included four seasons with teams in the American Hockey League and ECHL, as well as one season in Denmark and another in Austria.
His most notable professional accomplishments came during a nine-year run with the Fehervar AV19 club in Hungary, where he played more than 400 games and tallied more than 300 career points. His 59 points during the 2014-15 season led the Erste Bank Eishockey Liga, and his efforts on the international stage that season helped lead the Hungarian national team to a second-place finish in Group A of the Division I World Championship tournament. That second-place finish allowed Hungary to climb to the top division of international competition for the first time since 2009, and only the second time since 1939.
Andrew looks forward to working alongside the other talented coaches on the Wild staff, and to helping the team’s players become quality young men.
Leigh Mendelson
Goaltender Coach & Director of Scouting
lmendelson@wenatcheewildhockey.com
Leigh Mendelson joined the Wenatchee Wild prior to the 2017-18 season in a dual role as both Associate Head Coach and Director of Recruiting. His coaching career is considerable, with over 10 seasons of experience at the junior level in both the NAHL and USHL. Add in four seasons of pro experience in the ECHL and AHL, and three seasons in Europe to go along with his three years of Division I college, and you’ve got a world of experience. With a focus on the defensive side of the game, his skill set serves as the perfect balance to the established Wild staff.
