Prior to joining the Bison, the 45-year-old Barski was the associate coach of the OHL’s Barrie Colts for the 2023-24 season. Prior to being promoted, he spent one year as an assistant coach of the Colts for the 2022-23 campaign. Barski guided the Colts to a record of 70-53-0-13 as well as back-to-back playoff berths. 

He spent two years at the ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits as an assistant coach from 2020-2022. There he guided the Swamp Rabbits to back-to-back playoff berths and a trip to the Patrick J. Kelly Cup semi-finals during his first season with the club. He led, as head coach of Podhale Nowy Targ in the Polska Hokej Liga, the top hockey league in Poland. Under his direction, the team finished third in the league with 87 standings points, qualified for the Polish Cup, and had a +87 goal differential. 

Barski was an assistant coach of HC Bolzano, an Italian club playing in the EBEL, the top hockey league in Austria. In his first season with the club HC Bolzano won the EBEL Championship in the 2017-18 season. His first year of professional coaching came with the ECHL’s Brampton Beast where he served as the video coach during the 2016-17 campaign. A native of Richmond Hill, Ontario, Barski attended Bowling Green State University for two years (2000-02), then later transferred to the University of Calgary (2002-04). He played 38 games for the Dinos, scoring 27 points and earning academic all-Canadian accolades. Barski holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Calgary and a Master of Education in Coaching Studies from the University of Victoria. 

Messier had a long and successful playing career as a forward, which included four seasons in the OHL with the Sudbury Wolves and the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors. He served as a captain for two of those seasons. He then went on to play five years in USports, four as a captain, at York University. Messier turned pro in 2013 where he joined the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL after college and then played one full season for the Allen Americans where he won a Kelly Cup in 2015. 

After retiring, he began his coaching career in 2015 where he was an assistant coach with the York University Lions for four seasons, winning a Queen's Cup as OUA champions in 2017. He then went on to be an assistant coach with the Saginaw Spirit of the OHL from 2019 to 2023, winning a West division title during the 2019-20 campaign while also moving many players on to pro hockey.  After his stop in Saginaw, Jesse took the head coaching position with the Kam River Fighting Walleye of the SIJHL. In his one and only season, the Fighting Walleye compiled a 39-9-1-0 record, winning the regular season championship.