Belleville Sens announce 2026-27 hockey operations support staff updates

The Belleville Senators have rounded out the club’s hockey operations support staff ahead of the 2026-27 American Hockey League season in October. 

The Senators are proud to announce Blake Hatt has joined the club as strength and conditioning coach, while Landon Veenstra has been hired as the team’s new assistant athletic therapist. 

Hatt joins the Senators from St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, where he was the head strength and conditioning coach working with athletes from various sports across the school’s athletic department. Hatt spent the four seasons prior to last year working with the University of Ottawa men’s and women’s hockey teams. The Oromocto, New Brunswick native studied human kinetics at St. FX and studied for a Master of Education from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas. 

Veenstra comes to Belleville from the Ontario Hockey League’s Oshawa Generals, where he worked as the team’s athletic therapist last season. Before his time in the OHL, Veenstra worked with the men’s hockey team at Carleton University in Ottawa and spent three seasons with the medical staff for the Ottawa Titans Baseball Club in the Frontier League. Veenstra attended both Sheridan College and Algonquin College and hails from St. Andrew’s West, Ontario, near Cornwall. 

Hatt and Veenstra join the medical team that includes Head Athletic Therapist Nick Addey-Jibb, and Massage Therapist Logan Thurston, who are both returning for their third seasons in Belleville. 

The Senators also announced an extension for Tom Black, who returns for his third season in Belleville as assistant coach, video. 

And, in the Equipment Department, Head Equipment Manager Michael Boyes returns for a 10th season in Belleville and 11th with the Sens’ AHL affiliate (after moving with the team from Binghamton, New York in 2017), while Assistant Equipment Manager Spencer Stehouwer is back for a third campaign in the Friendly City. 

The Senators open their 10th season in the Bay of Quinte on Friday, October 2, 2026, hosting the Hamilton Hammers (AHL Affiliate of the New York Islanders) at CAA Arena at 7:00 p.m. 

The full 2026-27 Belleville Senators schedule is available by clicking here.

To mark your spot with a Senators season ticket package, click here to visit the 2026-27 Season Seat Page or email tickets@bellevillesens.com.   

More information on season seat memberships, Sens on Demand ticketing, premium seating, the Business Edge program, and more can be found by visiting the Belleville Sens Website.