Wolf Pack beat Hershey Bears 5-4 in OT

Hershey Bears head coach Troy Mann was re-signed to a multi-year contract. Mark Pynes | mpynes@pennlive.com

(Mark Pynes | mpynes@pennlive.com)

Many offseason decisions confront Hershey Bears President-GM Doug Yingst as free agent season looms next month.

But Yingst termed one decision a no-brainer: bringing back head coach Troy Mann and his staff.

Troy Mann

In the wake of a 100-point season and an East Division championship in 2014-15, the Bears announced Friday that Mann and assistant coaches Bryan Helmer and Ryan Murphy have been re-signed to multi-year contracts

The multi-year deals - the exact lengths weren't revealed - can be read as a reward for their performance and a vote of confidence in their long-term potential. The 32-year-old Murphy was promoted to assistant coach from assistant coach-video.

"

They're not only really outstanding coaches, they're outstanding people," Yingst said. "They're good in our community.

"

If you look back at the season, the competitiveness our team performed at and how they dealt with each other, I think it is a real positive for the Hershey franchise and for our players. It was a no-brainer getting them under contract for the years to come."

The Bears, eliminated in the second round of the playoffs by the Hartford Wolf Pack, won their first division title and first playoff series since 2009-10 and recorded their first 100-point season since 2010-11. Hershey ranked No. 1 in the AHL in penalty killing (87.5 percent), No. 2 in home wins (26) and No. 4 in goals allowed (181).

"

When we came in as a staff, we came in looking to prove ourselves at this level," Mann said. "I think we've accomplished that.

"

It was a thrill to become the head coach here. I love being a head coach. This is my 10th year in coaching, only my fourth year as a head guy. I don't think I'll go anywhere anytime soon as long as the organization wants me back as the head coach."

Mann, 45, Hershey's assistant coach from 2009-13, returned to the ECHL to coach the Bakersfield Condors in 2013-14 after Mike Haviland was hired as Hershey's head coach.

The door opened for a Hershey return when Haviland exited to become Colorado College's head coach following the 2013-14 season.

"

I certainly think the apprenticeship for a season in Bakersfield really helped me become a better coach at the AHL level in terms of dealing with the type of personalities we need to deal with on a day-to-day basis," Mann said.

The 2014-15 season was the first as a pro assistant for former Bears captain Helmer and second overall. The 42-year-old served as an assistant coach for the OHL's Peterborough Petes in 2013-14 after retiring as a player following the 2012-13 season.

"

For myself, there were a lot of ups and downs during the season," Helmer said. "As a player it's a lot easier to get through. As a coach, it was a lot harder than I expected to kind of get away from the game."

Bryan Helmer

Helmer noted that this is his first multi-year hockey deal since 2006, when he signed a two-year deal to play for the then-Phoenix Coyotes and San Antonio Rampage.

"

Very, very excited to sign a multi-year deal and to know I'm going to be in one spot for more than one year," Helmer said. "It's very nice. I'm looking forward to building on the season that we just went through.

"

Doing it with the coaching staff here, it was a great, fun experience for myself first year here in the coaching situation I was in. I learned a lot from Manner."

Hershey's coaches are employees of the Washington Capitals.

Ryan Murphy

"

It's been a tremendous learning experience," said Murphy, who also served as Mann's assistant in Bakersfield. "I know it's a development league. But it's a development league for the coaches, as well. I think the fact of what Washington's mindset is [is in line with that], as far as to keep developing their young coaches that they have in the system and, hopefully, one day being part of your NHL team."