The Boston Bruins announced via a press release on Monday that they have appointed a new head coach, assistant coach, and goalie development coach to serve with their AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins. Headlining the news was the promotion of Jay Leach as the new head coach, marking the first head coaching gig of his career.
Jay Leach, Head Coach
Leach, who served as an assistant coach with Providence last season, is taking over the reigns from Kevin Dean, who was promoted to an assistant coaching job with Boston back in June.
Leach served as an assistant coach with Providence last season after a year with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, with whom he served as an assistant coach and interim head coach due to a midseason coaching change.
Before his time in the AHL, Leach was a championship-winning coach in Germany. As an assistant coach, Leach helped carry Adler Mannheim to the Deutsche Eishockey Liga championship in 2014. The next season, he brought his talents to the American Hockey League.
Prior to his coaching days, Leach played for eighteen different pro teams at a variety of levels, including a three-year stint with the Bruins organization. In total, Leach suited up for 499 AHL games and 70 NHL games, representing the Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, New Jersey Devils, Montreal Canadiens, and San Jose Sharks.
Leach also played at Providence College for four seasons before playing professionally, so he has a history with the area.
Spencer Carbery, Assistant Coach
The Bruins also announced the hiring of Spencer Carbery as a new assistant coach. Carbery joins the Bruins after one season as the head coach of the Saginaw Spirit of the OHL.
Prior to his time with Saginaw, Carbery also served as a coach with the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL, where he was behind the bench for six seasons.
Carbery played one season at the University of Alaska-Anchorage before transferring to St. Norbert College, where he played for three seasons. He also had a limited professional career, having played in the ECHL for three seasons.
Carbery will join former Providence Bruins captain Trent Whitfield, who is also serving as an assistant coach with Providence.
Mike Dunham, Goalie Development Coach
Finally, the Bruins also announced the hiring of Mike Dunham as their new goaltender development coach (not to be confused with a regular goalie coach). His role will be to develop netminders making their way through the Bruins organization.
The Bruins have a number of young goalies who could benefit from the hiring down the road, including recent draft pick Jeremy Swayman.
Smart move by #NHLBruins, doubling down on goalie development by adding Mike Dunham to work with prospects along with Bob Essensa
— Mark Divver (@MarkDivver) July 31, 2017
Dunham played college hockey at the University of Maine, and was named to the NCAA East First-All American Team and Hockey East First All-Star team in 1992-93, when he won the national championship with the Black Bears.
After his time at Maine, Dunham enjoyed a ten-year NHL career and has since spent nine years as a coach with the New York Islanders organization.