A year ago, former Calgary Flames forward Sven Baertschi announced the end of his playing career.

But the game seems to have a hold on many that play it, and a year after ending his career as a player, Baertschi began a new opportunity as he headed into coaching back where his North American hockey journey began with the Portland Winterhawks.

The next phase of Baertschi’s hockey journey began with a chat with his former coach Mike Johnston, general manager (and at the time also head coach) in Portland.

“When I retired from the game, I think a few months later Mike had reached out to me about coming in and working individually with some of the players,” said Baertschi. “He gave me an opportunity at what I want to do after playing. I was able to go in, see what it was like to be a coach, what it’s like to be an assistant coach and have that opportunity last year with the team, going all the way to the finals. It was a great experience. I got to live it a little bit from the outside, still being involved a little bit, and it was amazing.”

Baertschi cited Johnston and Travis Green – who he had as a coach in Portland, Utica of the NHL and Vancouver of the NHL – as coaches that had big influences on him. He referred to Johnston as “a great standard for coaching in the Western League.” After Baertschi’s apprenticeship with the Winterhawks over the 2023-24 season, Johnston recruited him for a full-time gig. He was announced as an assistant coach under new Portland head coach Kyle Gustafson on Aug. 14.

“We had some talks over the summer and here I am,” said Baertschi. “Really looking forward to a new opportunity and getting my feet wet in this coaching thing.”

Baertschi’s time in Oregon as a player was brief, but memorable. He was selected by Portland in the 2010 CHL Import Draft and played two seasons with the Winterhawks, advancing to the WHL’s championship series in each season – losing to Kootenay in 2011 and Edmonton in 2012. He was selected by the Flames in the first round, 13th overall, of the 2011 NHL Draft and while he found success along the way, he wasn’t quite able to fully translate his junior promise into a long, fruitful pro career. He played 11 seasons of pro hockey, making stops in the NHL, AHL and Switzerland.

While injuries contributed to the premature end of his career at the age of 30, Baertschi shared that he feels great physically. He expressed his excitement for the beginning of his coaching career with the Winterhawks and passing on his knowledge to a new generation of players.

“I knew I was going to be involved in hockey anyways, the question was in what position,” said Baertschi. “I think for me, the opportunity to be involved with our young players, junior players, gives me a great opportunity to work with them because I lived it, I went through it. I made it all the way to the best league in the world. I have that experience, I’m able to pass some of my experiences along to the younger players and hopefully guide them through success. My career was up and down, back and forth, a lot of different places, a lot of highs and lows, all sorts of situations that I had to in a sense conquer or fight through or work through. It’s all good information for our young players, so I’m looking forward to sharing my experience, really.”

Unfortunately for Flames fans wishing to get a glimpse of Baertschi behind the bench, this season you’ll be limited to WHL Live broadcasts; the Winterhawks won’t be visiting the Calgary Hitmen during the 2024-25 campaign, but they’re slated to make a trip to Calgary the following season.