The Regina Pats announced their 44th head coach in franchise history Monday morning. After seven seasons with the Belleville Senators of the American Hockey League (AHL), David Bell is returning to coaching in the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) for the first time since 2017. “What I really liked about Dave was the idea around player development, not only the coaches taking over that stuff, but having the players be part of it and having the players take ownership of their own development,” general manager Dale Derkatch told reporters Monday. “When I did my homework on Dave, I talked to a few of his colleagues and friends and I didn’t hear one negative word from anyone. [I heard] glowing stuff from everybody about Dave, not one word of negativity.” In April, the organization announced that it had parted ways with head coach Brad Herauf and associate head coach Ryan Smith. Derkatch noted that the process of hiring a new head coach didn’t start until after the WHL draft and said that he wanted to have a head coach by July. Derkatch said that he spoke to a few players towards the end of their hockey careers who have played for Bell. One Saskatchewan-based player who played four years in the WHL and had also spent time in both the AHL and NHL, said Bell was the best coach he ever had. “You see a player that’s that old that has been through the whole coaching gamut from minor hockey all the way to pro and now in Europe said that – that was enough for me,” Derkatch noted. Since 2017, Bell has been working in the AHL, including the Ontario Reign (2017-19) and the Belleville Senators (2019-2026). He was promoted as the head coach of Belleville in 2023, before being replaced in December 2025. He will be making the transition back to junior hockey, after about a decade working in the pro game. “In pro, you don’t have a lot of rules per se of how to do it. One of the slogans, I just say is ‘Do the right thing,’” he said. “I think in junior you probably have to teach them [the players] how to do the right thing. They think they know how to work, or they think they’re detailed, you probably have to show them a lot more. There’s a lot more structure, there’s a lot more corrections.” Bell said the rest of the coaching staff has not been picked out just yet, and that he would like to sit down with the hockey staff first. The 49-year-old would like to get to know the players before they hit the ice together. “X’s and O’s are one thing, I don’t say that’s an easy thing, but I need to catch up with every player, learn them as a person before I learn them as a hockey player,” he said. “How they tick, where they struggle, what motivates them, what their fears are, what their struggles are.” This is the first time that Bell has worked for the WHL. As for Regina connections, he’s coached former Pats’ players such as Austin Wagner (2012-2017) when Bell was an assistant coach with the Ontario Reign, and Colby Williams (2010-2016) when he was an assistant coach with the Belleville Senators from 2020-2022. He describes himself as a coach who wants players to play an aggressive game that are hard to play against, but also promotes players to use their freedom to trust their instincts and abilities. Some non-negotiables are to compete, for the team to win, and to be a team first player. “Guys are so skilled now, guys have so much talent. I encourage them to use their talent, use their abilities,” Bell said. “Yes, we have structure and there is going to be a lot of structure, but there’s a time and a place in a hockey game. There’s a guy sitting to my right [Derkatch] that understands very well that if you can read a situation where you’ve got a guy in a vulnerable position to beat him, whether it’s with speed or your size, your reach, your vision, then I want you to do that.” “I want to encourage guys and they’re going to make mistakes, and they’re going to fail at that. But we’ll sit back down and see why it didn’t work. The only thing I ask is if you lose that puck, that you’d be the hardest working guy of the ten guys on the ice to get that puck back,” he added. After a first-round loss in the 2026 WHL playoffs, the Pats are looking to make it back to the dance with top draft picks Maddox Schultz and Liam Pue expected to be full time players this fall. Both are eligible for the 2028 NHL draft. “I just wanted to get a quality person with the qualities that I value, that the team values, who’s passionate, structured, caring, and has good communication,” said Derkatch. “It could have been someone 25 years old, or someone 60 years old. I just wanted to find the best person with those qualities. A big part is development, and Dave’s been doing that now for 20 years. He’s generally been in leagues developing players for the next level, and he’s had success doing that.” Bell has moved around for coaching since he started 22 years ago, but this will be his first time working for a WHL team. “Everybody says [the players are] low maintenance out here,” he noted. “Hardworking guys and kids that just want to work, so I’m excited for that.”
