Former Belleville Senators head coach David Bell has been named the newest head coach of the Western Hockey League’s Regina Pats.
Bell spent the last seven years with the B-Sens organization first joining as an assistant coach in 2019-20, and then becoming interim coach, later head coach, during the 2022-’23 season.
Bell was fired during the 2025-’26 season.
In his introductory press conference, Bell said he is looking forward to getting acclimated to the Pats organization.
He spoke of his passion for developing players.
“I think I’ve got a real good handle on what it takes to get to the next level, what it takes to be a good person in the community,” Bell said in his introductory speech.
“These guys are young, they’re learning, and I want to be part of the process of getting them to where they want to go.”
During the Q&A portion of the press conference, Bell spoke of the differences between the pro game and the junior game.
“There’s a lot more instruction, there’s a lot more corrections, but you know the way they are now, they’re all well advanced and have their personal trainers and their strength guys and their skills guys, so they’re advanced, but at the end of the day, it’s just the finite things of becoming a pro,” Bell said.
During his time as head coach of the Belleville Senators, Bell had a 97-78-15-11 record over 201 regular season games.
He also helped guide the club to the second round of the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs, and led the B-Sens to a franchise-record 45-win season in 2024-’25.
