Tim Speltz was hired as the first General Manager in Silver Knights history on August 31, 2021, joining the franchise for its second AHL season and leading the team to its second consecutive playoff berth. The 2021-22 campaign was Speltz’s first season working in the American Hockey League, but he has been working with high-level prospects and in player development since 1990.

Speltz, 64, spent 25 seasons (1990-2016) as the general manager of the Western Hockey League’s Spokane Chiefs, leading the Chiefs to two WHL Championships (1991, 2008) and two Memorial Cup  Championships (1991, 2008). Speltz was also named the WHL’s Executive of the Year twice, winning the Lloyd Saunders Memorial Trophy in 1996 and 2000. He was also named the CHL’s Executive of the Year in 1996.

Under Speltz’s leadership, the Chiefs achieved four 100-point seasons, ten seasons with 40 or more wins, and two 50-win seasons. The Chiefs won 142 playoff games, made the playoffs in 23 of 25 seasons, and went to seven conference finals and four WHL Finals. Speltz’s Spokane teams featured such players as Ray Whitney, Pat Falloon, Bryan McCabe, Jared Spurgeon, Tyler Johnson, and Kailer Yamamoto.

For two seasons (1988-1990), Speltz was the general manager of the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers,

Following his tenure with the Chiefs, Speltz joined the Toronto Maple Leafs as Director of Western Area Scouting in August 2016. Speltz would remain with the Maple Leafs until the end of the 2020-21 season, and he served as the Head of Amateur Scouting for three seasons from 2018-21.

Internationally, Speltz was part of Hockey Canada’s management group for the 2014 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup, as well as for the Canadian U-20 program.

Speltz lives in Henderson with his wife, Lynn. They have two daughters, Jenna and Hannah.

Head Coach Emanuel “Manny” Viveiros returns for his third season behind the bench with the Silver Knights. Viveiros also led the Silver Knights to playoff appearances in each of the franchise’s first two seasons, including an appearance in the Pacific Division Final against the Bakersfield Condors in 2021. Vegas Golden Knights General Manager Kelly McCrimmon announced Viveiros’ hiring as the first head coach in Silver Knights franchise history on August 31, 2020.

Prior to joining the Silver Knights, Viveiros spent 13 years in coaching and management, earning significant success in both Europe and North America. Viveiros was Head Coach of the Western Hockey League’s Spokane Chiefs in 2019-20, and he served as General Manager, Head Coach and Director of Player Personnel for the WHL’s Swift Current Broncos from 2016-18. Viveiros was also an assistant coach for the Edmonton Oilers during the 2018-19 season, and he was a head coach and Sports Manager in Austria’s EBEL and Germany’s DEL.

Viveiros, 56, led the Swift Current Broncos to the 2018 WHL Championship and was named the WHL’s Coach of the Year for the 2017-18 season.

The St. Albert, Alberta native began his coaching career in 2007 with Klagenfurter AC of the EBEL and was Head Coach until 2012. He moved on to a role as Sports Manager with the same organization from 2012-14, winning an EBEL Championship in 2013.

Viveiros worked as Head Coach of Team Austria at multiple international tournaments, including the Men’s World Championship from 2012-14 and the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Before moving behind the bench, Viveiros was selected in the sixth round, 106th overall by the Edmonton Oilers in the 1984 NHL Draft. His distinguished junior career with the Prince Albert Raiders spanned from 1982-86, where the defenseman collected 321 points (60G, 261A) in 251 career regular season games, helping lead the team to the WHL Championship and Memorial Cup in 1985.

In 1985-86, Viveiros won a silver medal at the World Junior Championship with Canada, and was named the WHL (East) Player of the Year. He still holds single-season records for most points and assists by a Raiders defenseman, recording 93 assists and 109 points in 1983-84. He’s also tied for most career goals with 60 and collected the most career assists in franchise history with 261.

He played for the Minnesota North Stars in 29 NHL games from 1985-87 and spent time in the AHL and the IHL from 1986-91 with the Springfield Indians, Kalamazoo Wings, and Albany Choppers. With the Indians, Viveiros won the 1991 Calder Cup.

Viveiros finished his playing career overseas playing in the EBEL and German DEL from 1991-2007. He won Austrian Championships in 1992, 1993, 2001, and 2004, and led all EBEL defensemen in scoring in the 2005 EBEL playoffs. He competed for Austria in the 2005 IIHF World Championship.

Viveiros lives in Henderson with his wife, Laurie. They have two sons, Landan and Layne. Layne currently plays professional hockey for the Vienna Capitals of the ICEHL.

Jamie Heward will serve his third season as an assistant coach with the Silver Knights in 2022-23, specifically managing the defensemen and the penalty kill. Heward was hired on November 23, 2020, following an extensive coaching career in the Western Hockey League.

Heward, 51, served as an associate coach for the Western Hockey League’s Vancouver Giants from 2018-20, after spending the prior six seasons with the Swift Current Broncos working as both Assistant Coach and Director of Player Development. Internationally, Heward has served as an assistant coach for Canada at two World Under-17 Hockey Challenge tournaments in 2015-16 and 2016-17. Heward was a member of Manny Viveiros’ staff in Swift Current from 2016-18, winning the 2018 WHL Championship.

Before embarking on his coaching career, the Regina, Saskatchewan native spent two decades playing professional hockey after being selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round, 16th overall, in the 1989 NHL Draft. A forward-turned-defenseman, Heward played in 394 NHL games from 1995-2009, playing stints with Toronto, Nashville, the NY Islanders, Columbus, Washington, and Tampa Bay.

Heward also played in 206 AHL games over that span with St. John’s, Philadelphia, Syracuse, and Norfolk. He was named a First-Team AHL All-Star in 1996 with St. John’s and in 1998 with Philadelphia. With the Phantoms in 1998, Heward led all defensemen in scoring and won the Eddie Shore Award as the AHL’s Outstanding Defenseman, helping lead the Phantoms to a Calder Cup Championship.

He played 185 IHL games with the Muskegon Fury and Cleveland Lumberjacks from 1991-94 after playing four WHL seasons with the Regina Pats. Heward also played three seasons in Swtizerland and one in Russia. He represented Canada at four Spengler Cups and four World Championships, winning two World Championship gold medals.

Heward lives in Henderson with his wife, Ticia. They have two children, Blake and Irelyn. Blake currently plays for the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen.

Joel Ward returns for his third season coaching professional hockey in 2022, all of them thus far with the Silver Knights. Ward was hired as an assistant coach on Manny Viveiros’ staff on November 23, 2020. Ward had announced his retirement from the NHL in April 2020, following a 13-year professional playing career.

In 11 NHL seasons, Ward was a reliable two-way forward, appearing in 726 NHL games with the Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, Washington Capitals, and San Jose Sharks. He totaled 304 points in the NHL.

Ward, 41, made the post-season seven times in his NHL career, including a run to the Stanley Cup Final with the San Jose Sharks in 2015-16. During that playoff run, Ward posted seven goals and 13 points in 24 games. Ward also netted the overtime-winner in Game 7 of the 2012 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals with the Capitals, eliminating the defending Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins at TD Garden. In 83 career Stanley Cup playoff games, Ward totaled 22 goals, 52 points, and a plus-10 rating.

Prior to becoming a full-timer NHLer, the North York, Ontario native appeared in 209 AHL games across three seasons with the Houston Aeros, posting 38 goals and 86 points from 2005-08 and making the Calder Cup Playoffs twice.

Ward played four seasons of college hockey in the Canadian University system, skating in 96 CIS games from 2001-05 at the University of Prince Edward Island. In 2005, Ward was named CIS (AUS) Most Valuable Player, a First-Team All-Star, and the CIS Most Sportsmanlike Player. He was also named the CIS (AUS) Most Sportsmanlike Player in 2004 and 2005.

Representing Canada at the 2014 World Championship, Ward notched six goals and nine points in eight games.

Ward lives in Henderson with his wife, Kathleen, and their sons, Robinson and Bo.

Fred Brathwaite begins his third season with the HSK. He was named the first Goaltending Coach in Henderson Silver Knights history on January 3, 2021. He previously served as Goaltending Coach for the New York Islanders in 2017-18. Brathwaite also worked as the goaltending coach for Hockey Canada with their U-18 team for three seasons and held the same role with Canada’s U-20 team. He was a goalie coach for his former club, Adler Mannheim of the German Professional League (DEL) during the 2013-14 season.

Brathwaite, 49, spent nine seasons playing in the NHL from 1993-04, appearing in 254 games and posting an 81-99-37 record with a 2.73 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage. Brathwaite came into the league with the Edmonton Oilers in 1993 and went on to play with the Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues and Columbus Blue Jackets. He also spent time with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch and Chicago Wolves, Ak Bars Kazan and Avangard Omsk of the Russian Superleague (now the Kontinential Hockey League), and Adler Mannheim of the DEL.

The Ottawa, Ontario native won Goaltender of the Year honors in the RSL in 2005-06 and won Player of the Year in 2008-09 in the DEL with Adler. Before embarking on his pro career, Brathwaite won a Memorial Cup and an OHL Championship in 1990 with the Oshawa Generals.

Andrew Doty begins his third season as Video Coach for the Silver Knights. He was hired on January 3, 2021 after spending six seasons with the Western Hockey League’s Lethbridge Hurricanes. During his time with the Hurricanes, he served as a video coach, an assistant coach and the assistant to the General Manager. He captured gold as a video coach for Team Canada at the 2018 Hlinka Gretzky Tournament in Edmonton.

Doty, 32, lives in Henderson with his wife Kaella and their three children named London, Sonoma, and Henderson.

Jake McKamey joins the Silver Knights for his first season as Manager of Team Services.

McKamey, 26, arrives after serving as Director of Hockey Operations for the University of Nebraska-Omaha’s Division I hockey program for three seasons from 2019-22. He joined the hockey program as a student assistant coach in the summer of 2018.

The Franklin, Tennessee native worked as an intern with the Nashville Predators in 2017-18, and he has also served roles with USA Hockey for the 2018 World Junior Championship and the 2017 U-17 Select Development National Camp. McKamey also worked for two seasons with the Knoxville Ice Bears of the Southern Professional Hockey League and was the captain and president of the University of Tennessee’s club hockey team. He earned a degree in sports management from Tennessee and a masters in business administration from Nebraska-Omaha.

Email:  jmckamey@hendersonsilverknights.com

Todd Richardson begins his second season working in professional hockey with the Silver Knights in 2021-22. Richardson is the staffs longest-tenured Vegas resident, joining the team after spending the past 16 years working for Cirque du Soleil. Richardson joined Cirque du Soleil in 2004 and served as the Head Therapist at Viva Elvis and Michael Jackson: One. Richardson was also a therapist on the staff for Mystere and “O”.

A native of Melville, Saskatchewan, Richardson attended the University of Alberta in Edmonton for both his undergraduate and graduate studies between 1990 and 1998, during which time he worked in both hockey and football. He worked as a therapist, and became Head Athletic Therapist, while working with the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League from 1998-04. Richardson was a member of the Eskimos’ 2003 Grey Cup Championship team.

Richardson lives in Henderson with his wife Nadine, sons Josh and Evan, and dog Shadow.

Jeff Conkle begins his second season with the Henderson Silver Knights and his fifth season as the minor league Strength and Conditioning Coach with the Vegas Golden Knights. A native of Columbus, Ohio, Conkle worked with Golden Knights prospects with the Americans Hockey League’s Chicago Wolves from 2017-20.

Prior to joining the Golden Knights, Conkle served four years as the minor league Head Strength Coach for the Columbus Blue Jackets, working with the Springfield Falcons from 2013-15 and then with the Cleveland Monsters 2015-17. Conkle was a member of the staff for the Monsters’ 2016 Calder Cup Championship. Conkle was also a full-time intern with the Blue Jackets at the NHL level from 2011-13.

Conkle earned his BS in Health and Exercise Science, with a minor in Nutrition, from the Ohio State University in 2011. He earned his MA  at Ohio State with a focus on Kinesiology  in 2013.

Hayato Ikeda joins the Silver Knights for his second season working with the team. A native of Madison, Wisconsin, Ikeda worked in 2019-20 as a Graduate Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at Merrimack College, and as an Assistant strength and Conditioning Coach with the school’s Division 1 Men’s Hockey program. Ikeda also worked in prior internships with  the Strength and Conditioning programs for the Division 1 football program at the University of Wisconsin. He interned at EXOS, a health and wellness company.

Ikeda earned his B.S. in Athletic Training at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his M.S. in Exercise and Sports Science at Merrimack College. He is a certified Athletic Trainer and a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist.

Jorge Lopez begins his second season as the Head Equipment Manager for the Henderson Silver Knights. Lopez joined the HSK late in the summer of 2021 following a three-year stint with the Western Hockey League’s Seattle Thunderbirds.

Lopez, 34, has spent 14 years as an equipment manager, beginning in 2008-09 with the Central Hockey League’s Laredo Bucks. Lopez, a native of Laredo, Texas, was an assistant equipment manager for two seasons with the Bucks before earning his first job as a head equipment manager in 2010-11 with the Southern Professional Hockey League’s Huntsville Havoc. Lopez would return to serve one season as the head equipment manager in Laredo before moving to the AHL as an assistant with the Texas Stars.During his three seasons with the Stars (2012-15), Lopez won a Calder Cup in 2014.

He would go on to serve as a head equipment manager with the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies (2015-16), the Fayetteville FireAntz (2016-17) and Mississippi River Kings (2017-18) of the SPHL, and WHL Seattle (2018-21).

Lopez lives in Las Vegas with his fiancee, Rachel, and their son Leo.