The Boston Bruins announced today that the team has appointed Jay Leach as head coach and Spencer Carbery as assistant coach of the AHL’s Providence Bruins.
Leach, 37, served as an assistant coach for the Providence Bruins during the 2016-17 season, helping the team reach the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2009.
Leach spent the 2015-16 season with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, beginning as an assistant coach under Mike Sullivan before being named interim head coach and later associate coach under Clark Donatelli. Leach represented the Penguins behind the bench at the 2016 AHL All-Star Classic and helped guide them to the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Before coaching, Leach enjoyed a 12-year professional playing career that included 499 games in the AHL with the Springfield Falcons, Providence Bruins, Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Norfolk Admirals, Portland Pirates, Lowell/Albany Devils and Worcester Sharks. Leach also played 70 games in the NHL with New Jersey, San Jose, Montreal, Tampa Bay and Boston.
The Syracuse, New York, native was originally selected by the Phoenix Coyotes in the fifth round (115th overall) of the 1998 NHL Entry Draft and played four seasons at Providence College.
Carbery, 35, served as head coach for the Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League in 2016-17. Before that, Carbery spent six seasons coaching the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays, including five years (2011-16) as head coach. He was named the ECHL’s coach of the year in 2013-14 and reached the league finals in 2015.
Carbery, from Victoria, B.C., played four pro seasons in the ECHL and the Central Hockey League.
