North Dakota Fires Brad Berry, Unofficial Member of Ottawa's Player Development Team
Brad Berry never worked a day for the Ottawa Senators, but given how many of their prospects he’s worked with over the years, you'd almost swear he was part of their development team. Berry was the head coach of the University of North Dakota men’s hockey team, which felt like a Sens feeder system for several years.
Apr 7, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; North Dakota head coach Brad Berry at the semifinals of the 2016 Frozen Four college ice hockey tournament at Amalie Arena (Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images)But the program announced earlier this week that Berry had been fired as head coach. The decision came after the Fighting Hawks missed the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three seasons.
On the club's website, UND athletic director Bill Chaves shared the following statement:
"Coach Berry has had a tremendous decade-long run at his alma mater. Not many coaches win a national title, and he's one of the few who can say that. His time will be cherished, but today was the right time to move in a new direction for UND hockey."
Over his ten years as head coach, Berry led the team to five NCAA Tournament appearances. Notably, he became the first head coach in NCAA Division I men’s hockey history to win a national title in his first season, defeating Quinnipiac for the 2016 championship.
"We all get measured at North Dakota on the championships, and we should," Berry said after last Friday's game," Berry told the Grand Forks Herald. "That's what we sign up for. But I'll tell you what, these guys poured their hearts out with everything they did. I couldn’t be more proud."
A UND guy through and through, Berry played for the Fighting Hawks from 1983 to 1986 before being drafted by the Winnipeg Jets, where he played 163 games alongside some of the great Jets teams of the 80s.
After his playing career ended, Berry returned to North Dakota in 2000, initially as an assistant coach for nine seasons. His coaching journey also included a four-year stint as an assistant in the professional ranks with the Manitoba Moose and Columbus Blue Jackets, working under Scott Arniel, his former Jets’ teammate. He eventually returned to North Dakota as head coach, where he spent the next ten years.
Throughout his time at North Dakota, Berry developed numerous players who went on to play for the Senators, most of them as club draft picks. One exception was Chris Wilkie, a Florida pick acquired in a 2019 trade for Jack Rodewald. Wilkie spent two seasons with North Dakota and one in Belleville but never made it to Ottawa.
Incredibly, as of a month ago, four ex-North Dakota players were on Ottawa's roster. The list of guys who spent time in the organization and at North Dakota under Berry include:
- Brandon Bochenski
- Brian Lee
- Chris Wilkie
- Christian Wolanin
- Jacob Bernard-Docker
- Jonny Tychonick
- Shane Pinto
- Tyler Kleven
- Jake Sanderson
Tychonick was a 2018 Sens draft pick, but he's the only former NoDak player on the list who never played in Ottawa or Belleville.
As for Berry’s future, given his strong ties to Winnipeg and Arniel, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see him land with the Jets next season.
By Steve Warne
Site Editor at The Hockey News Ottawa
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