Color of Hockey: Reddick, Henderson soak up NHLCA guest coach program  

William Douglas has been writing The Color of Hockey blog since 2012. Douglas joined NHL.com in 2019 and writes about people of color in the sport. Today, he profiles Bryce Reddick and Derrick Henderson, who attended the development camps of the Winnipeg Jets and Colorado Avalanche, respectively, through an NHL Coaches’ Association guest coach program.

It was a homecoming of sorts for Bryce Reddick when he accompanied his father, Eldon “Pokey” Reddick, for the Winnipeg Jets’ Black History Night game at Canada Life Centre on Feb. 24.

The elder Reddick was a goalie for the original Jets from 1986-89 and was the second Black goalie to play in the NHL after Grant Fuhr made his debut for the Edmonton Oilers on Oct. 14, 1981.

“I don't remember him being in the NHL, like I was obviously super young then,” the younger Reddick said. “So for me to see him in that space in February was super cool. Then being on my own hockey journey here, you definitely appreciate it more.”

Bryce Reddick, 35, a retired professional defenseman, returned to Winnipeg as a guest coach at Jets development camp June 30-July 1 as part of an NHL Coaches’ Association mentorship effort to help bring more coaches of color and women into the professional ranks.

Reddick and Derrick Henderson, an assistant coach with Columbus of the United States Premier Hockey League who attended Colorado Avalanche development camp July 1-3, participated through the coaches' association's BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) Coaches Program. Another dozen NHL teams had women attend development camp through the NHLCA’s Female Coaches Program.

“These placements provide coaches with hands-on experience inside NHL organizations, which is an opportunity that’s critical to their development,” NHLCA executive director Lindsay Pennal said of the program, which began in 2020. “Just as important, the placement expands their network by connecting them with NHL and AHL coaching and front office staffs.

“We’re grateful to the Jets and Avalanche for creating these opportunities and opening their doors, and to the dozen other NHL clubs that continue to support the NHLCA Guest Coach Program year after year.”

Reddick said his experience at Jets development camp will be invaluable in his transition from a player to a coach. He played 12 seasons as a professional, in North American minor leagues and in Europe before he finished with Glasgow of the United Kingdom's Elite Ice Hockey League in 2023-24.

The former Michigan Tech defenseman became an assistant coach for Wisconsin of the North American Hockey League last season and was recently hired as an assistant for Green Bay of the United States Hockey League for this season.

Reddick wasn’t on the ice with Jets prospects during development camp. Instead, he spent most of his time shadowing and speaking with coaches from the NHL team and its American Hockey League affiliate, Manitoba. He said he peppered Jets director of player development Jimmy Roy and Mike Keane, who focuses on player development and evaluation for Manitoba, with questions.

“It was an awesome experience,” Reddick said. “The staff was so welcoming, so friendly. They treat you like you are on the staff. It was just an awesome experience taking everything in from the coaching staff of the Jets, the player development people.”

Roy said Reddick was an eager student.

“I saw him sitting in meetings, at the coaches’ desks with the whiteboard out, drawing on the board and talking about different situations or different things,” Roy said. “That's what you want to see. You want them to absorb as much as they can at this level. He said to me how cool it was to see how things are run at this level, and how much commitment and time and everything that our coaches put into stuff. So I think it's great that he's noticed that, and we appreciate that too.”

Reddick said the development camp reinforced his desire to work in the NHL someday.

“Obviously, it didn't work out for me as a player, but I would like to get there as a coach or player development or some sort of hockey operations role, for sure,” he said.

Henderson, who celebrated his 48th birthday on Tuesday, said attending Avalanche development camp inspired him to continue in hockey as far as the sport will take him.

A video/data/offensive strategy coach for Columbus of the United States Premier Hockey League, Henderson began playing street and roller hockey growing up in Levittown, Pennsylvania. He became a student equipment manager for Bowling Green State University’s NCAA Division I men’s team and would get coaching tips from Buddy Powers and his staff.

He coached Ohio State University’s women’s club hockey team from 2016-19 and has coached juniors and high school hockey in Ohio and Maine.

“I would love to be part of the NHL,” he said. “But if you ask me my ‘pie in the sky’ dream, I would love to see what hockey is like in Europe just to see what living in that part of the world is like. But, I mean, I wouldn’t say no to the NHL.”

At Colorado's camp, Henderson huddled with the team’s scouts, analytics staff, training staff and Avalanche assistant coach Brett Heimlich, who handles video replay and provides video breakdowns of game situations to coaches and players.

“I love just getting as much information as possible, learning a bit here and there from everybody, Henderson said. “When I say everybody, I mean from (Colorado coach) Jared Bednar and (assistant) Nolan Pratt down to the strength and conditioning guys on just about anything that I can bring back to the teams that I work with here in Columbus, whether it's my junior hockey team or any of the high school teams that I still connect with.”

Henderson said he hopes to learn even more when he attends Avalanche training camp in September.

“I'm going to see two preseason games," he said, "and then I'll also going to connect with the team during the season, which will likely be either here in Columbus or maybe Detroit, depending on the timing.”