Chris Hartly has been hired as the Helena Bighorns associate head coach for the upcoming season, announced Bighorns president Mike Butters.

Hartly brings a wealth of experience and success to Helena as he joins head coach Scott Cunningham in the Bighorns defense of the Cascade Cup.

Hartly is entering his sixth season of coaching junior hockey. In his first season at the helm for the Valencia Flyers of the Western States Hockey League, he led his team to its most successful season in the club's history. The Flyers finished with a second-place finish in the regular season under Hartly and came within one game of reaching the league finals and having a berth to Nationals.

A native Oregonian, Hartly played three years of junior hockey all across North America (AFHL, KIJHL, BCHL, SJHL). Longtime Helena hockey fans may remember Hartly as he played for the Helena Ice Pirates in 1997-98.

Hartly went on to play NCAA college hockey at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, Mass. The Management of Technology graduate helped secure three straight ECAC Northeast Championships for WIT. He was named to the NCAA All-Rookie Team (2000-2001) and left as the school's top-scoring defenseman. Upon completing his senior year, Hartly signed a free-agent contract with the Lubbock Cotton Kings of the CHL. After a brief pro career, Hartly set his sights on coaching.

Hartly began his coaching career in 2005 as an assistant coach with the Eugene Generals in NORPAC. That season, the Generals won the Pacific Division title before falling to the eventual Cascade Cup Champion Helena Bighorns. After that season Hartly was promoted to head coach and led the Generals to two successful seasons before joining the upstart Flyers last season.

";Chris Hartly is a quality coach with very impressive credentials," Butters said. ";His commitment to the development of his players and the enhancement of their college pursuits only adds to the coaching staff. The combination of Chris and Scott Cunningham only adds to the depth of the development our players will receive."

Hartly is expected to head up many of the Bighorns' day-to-day functions, as well as his on-ice commitments.