Sports

The return of Patrick Wellar: Former Ace back in fold

Patrick Wellar has won four championships in his 11 seasons of professional hockey – his first came with the Alaska Aces in 2006 – and yet those titles have not diminished his drive for five.

"After you've done it, it's all you can think about, and all you want to do,'' Wellar said in a phone interview.

His next chance will come with the Aces, who Thursday announced Wellar, 31, as their player-assistant coach, enhancing their roster and also filling a staff slot vacated when longtime assistant coach Louis Mass moved to UAA In June.

The veteran defenseman has played a combined 809 regular-season and playoff games as a pro, and returns to the Aces after an eight-year absence. He played for them in 2005-06, when they won the first of the franchise's three ECHL Kelly Cups, and in 2006-07, when they lost in the conference finals to the eventual Kelly Cup-champion Idaho Steelheads.

"Two of my favorite years ever,'' Wellar said. "I tell that to everyone who asks about Alaska. They're so intrigued by it.''

Wellar won a second Kelly Cup with the South Carolina Stingrays in 2009, when they beat the Aces in Game 7 of the Finals at Sullivan Arena. He won an American Hockey League Calder Cup with the Hershey Bears in 2010 and another Kelly Cup with the Reading Royals in 2013.

Wellar is just one of two men in ECHL history to win three Cups as a player. The other is former Alaska captain Scott Burt, who won two Cups with Idaho (2007, 2004) and one with the Aces (2011).

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"You can't buy that,'' Aces coach Rob Murray said of Wellar's success. "He knows what it takes, and how good it feels. That to me is an intangible he brings that, hopefully, will be passed on to the young guys.''

Wellar spent last season as a player-assistant coach with the Utah Grizzlies, who like the Aces play in the West Division. He earned 2-10—12 and plus-2 totals in 60 games. He helped head coach Tim Branham plan practices, broke down video and was introduced to administrative duties like budget work. Wellar said he also learned the first responsibility of a player-assistant coach is to earn the trust of teammates.

"You're a player first, so you want to have the respect of the players in the room, let them know you're one of them and part of the process with them going to battle,'' Wellar said.

Wellar said he considered retiring during the offseason and going into coaching full-time, but the Aces' offer was too good to turn down.

Mass and Wellar were roommates in Wellar's first season with the Aces, and Mass strongly recommended his friend as his replacement.

"I support Pat and I believe in him,'' Mass said. "I think he's the best choice. I didn't want to leave the Aces in a lurch. I wanted the best possible guy for the job, and that's Pat.''

Mass pointed out that Wellar has been a part of four very successful franchises. The Aces have delivered winning seasons in all 12 of their ECHL campaigns and seized those three Kelly Cups. Hershey has produced 11 straight winning seasons and won three AHL titles in that span. Reading owns six straight winning seasons, with one Kelly Cup in that stretch. And South Carolina has generated 22 straight winning seasons and three Kelly Cups.

The 6-foot-3, 230-pound Wellar pencils in with the Aces as a stay-at-home defenseman and penalty killer.

"He's found his niche as a hard-nosed, steady, punishing-type defenseman,'' Mass said. "That's a Rob Murray-type player.''

Murray said he expects Wellar to play a significant role against opponents' most dangerous forwards and also on the penalty-killing crew.

"Any given night, he could be matched up against the other's teams top line,'' Murray said. "He plays a nasty game.''

Shuffling the deck

Four men have won three Kelly Cups each.

Wellar and Burt won each won all three of theirs as players. Mass won one as a player (2006) and two as an assistant coach (2014, 2011).

Jared Bednar won three Cups with the South Carolina Stingrays, two as a player (2001, 1997) and one as a head coach (2009).

Of Wellar's four championship rings, the one in his possession is from the 2010 Calder Cup. He said he gave his 2006 Kelly Cup ring to his father, his 2009 Kelly Cup ring to his brother and his 2013 Kelly Cup ring to his mother.

The Aces have never hoisted the Kelly Cup on their home ice at Sullivan Arena. But Wellar did in 2009, when South Carolina won Game 7, 4-2.

The Aces' Cup-clinching victories came at Gwinnett, Georgia (2006), Kalamazoon, Michigan (2011) and Cincinnati, Ohio (2014).

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"I'm looking to reverse that trend,'' Wellar said.

In 2009, South Carolina clinched the Cup on Pierre-Luc O'Brien's short-handed, empty-net goal with 24.1 seconds left in the game. The Stingrays were short-handed because Wellar was serving a penalty for slashing.

For what it's worth, Wellar wore No. 6 in his first go-round with the Aces. Center Tim Coffman has worn that number the last two seasons.

From the hockey-is-a-small-world file: One of Wellar's teammates in South Carolina's 2009 Cup triumph was former UAA forward Spencer Carbery, the Stingrays' current head coach. And one of Wellar's teammates on Hershey's 2010 championship team was former UAA center Jay Beagle, who won a 2007 Kelly Cup with Idaho when Burt was captain.

Reach Doyle Woody at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com, check out his blog at adn.com/hockeyblog and follow him on Twitter at @JaromirBlagr

Doyle Woody

Doyle Woody covered hockey and other sports for the Anchorage Daily News for 34 years.

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