Jay Christopher Leach (born September 2, 1979) is an American former professional ice hockey player and currently the assistant coach of the Seattle Kraken in the National Hockey League (NHL). He is a former captain of the Albany Devils.
| Jay Leach | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Leach with the San Jose Sharks in 2010 | |||
| Born |
September 2, 1979 Syracuse, New York, U.S. | ||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (193 cm) | ||
| Weight | 215 lb (98 kg; 15 st 5 lb) | ||
| Position | Defense | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for |
Boston Bruins Tampa Bay Lightning New Jersey Devils Montreal Canadiens San Jose Sharks | ||
| National team |
 United States | ||
| NHL Draft |
115th overall, 1998 Phoenix Coyotes | ||
| Playing career | 2001–2013 | ||
Playing career edit
Leach was drafted in the fifth round (115th overall) by the Phoenix Coyotes. After spending several years in minor hockey leagues, he signed as a free agent with the National Hockey League's Boston Bruins on September 26, 2003. While with the Bruins he appeared in his first two NHL games during the 2005–06 season, collecting no points and seven penalty minutes. Leach spent most of his time in the Bruins organization with their AHL affiliate in Providence. On July 3, 2007, he was signed as a free agent by the Tampa Bay Lightning. He played in two games for the Lightning during the 2007–08 season but spent most of the season in the AHL. On February 26, 2008 he was traded to the Anaheim Ducks. Later, during the summer of 2008 he signed with the New Jersey Devils. On November 6, 2009, Leach was claimed by the Montreal Canadiens on re-entry waivers from the Devils. On November 28, 2009, due to a high number of injuries to Canadiens forwards, Leach played forward instead of his usual defense position.[1]
Leach was claimed off waivers by the San Jose Sharks on December 1, 2009, and he played 28 games for the Sharks during the season. He recorded his first NHL goal in an 8 to 5 victory over the visiting Nashville Predators on March 11, 2010. He began the 2010–11 season playing for the AHL's Worcester Sharks, but on February 9, 2011, he was traded back to the New Jersey Devils along with Steven Zalewski in exchange for Patrick Davis and Mike Swift.[2]
Coaching career edit
Leach became an assistant coach with Adler Mannheim of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga in 2014, helping the team in winning their sixth DEL Championship.[3][4] On July 7, 2015, Leach was appointed as assistant coach to Mike Sullivan for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL.[5] Leach was named interim head coach in December 2015 after Sullivan was promoted to be the head coach at Pittsburgh before settling into the position of associate head coach on a permanent basis to new Wilkes-Barre/Scranton head coach Clark Donatelli.[6][7] Leach departed the Penguins after one season, eventually joining the Providence Bruins as an assistant coach on August 4, 2016.[8] He would be promoted the P-Bruins head coach position prior to the 2017–18 season.[9] In July 2021, the Seattle Kraken announced Leach as an assistant coach to Dave Hakstol for the Kraken's inaugural season.[10] Leach is now looking for a head coaching job at a higher level.
Personal life edit
Leach is the nephew of both former NHL forward Stephen Leach and University of Maine hockey coach Jay Leach.[11] He was married to Kathryn Tappen, an American sportscaster; they subsequently divorced.
Career statistics edit
Regular season and playoffs edit
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1997–98 | Providence College | HE | 32 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 29 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | Providence College | HE | 33 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 42 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–00 | Providence College | HE | 37 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 101 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000–01 | Providence College | HE | 40 | 4 | 21 | 25 | 104 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001–02 | Mississippi Sea Wolves | ECHL | 70 | 3 | 13 | 16 | 116 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 2002–03 | Augusta Lynx | ECHL | 65 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 162 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | Springfield Falcons | AHL | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Long Beach Ice Dogs | ECHL | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Providence Bruins | AHL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Trenton Titans | ECHL | 31 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 45 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Bridgeport Sound Tigers | AHL | 23 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 33 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10 | ||
| 2004–05 | Trenton Titans | ECHL | 11 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 17 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004–05 | Providence Bruins | AHL | 62 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 92 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | ||
| 2005–06 | Providence Bruins | AHL | 71 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 100 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 15 | ||
| 2005–06 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | Providence Bruins | AHL | 73 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 128 | 13 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 13 | ||
| 2007–08 | Norfolk Admirals | AHL | 55 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 54 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | Portland Pirates | AHL | 20 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 30 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 2008–09 | Lowell Devils | AHL | 24 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 29 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 24 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 21 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | Lowell Devils | AHL | 12 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 28 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Worcester Sharks | AHL | 50 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 45 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Albany Devils | AHL | 16 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011–12 | Albany Devils | AHL | 21 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | Albany Devils | AHL | 60 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 63 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 70 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 60 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
International edit
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | United States | WJC | 5th | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |
| Junior totals | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||||
References edit
- ^ "Price gets another call; Leach plays forward". Habs Inside/Out.com. 2009-11-28. Archived from the original on December 1, 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
- ^ "Sharks, Devils deal minor-leaguers". Boston Globe. 2011-02-09. Archived from the original on 2020-02-14. Retrieved 2011-02-10.
- ^ Dougherty, Peter "Leach signs on as assistant coach in Germany" Albany Times-Union August 20, 2014
- ^ "Mannheim takes DEL title". IIHF.com. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
- ^ "Jay Leach Named Assistant Coach of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins". Pittsburgh Penguins Official Website. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
- ^ "Jay Leach named WBS Interim Head Coach". NHL.com. 12 December 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
- ^ Lakso, Seth. "Clark Donatelli hired as WBS Penguins Head Coach". Penguins Insider. Archived from the original on 24 December 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
- ^ "JAY LEACH AND TRENT WHITFIELD NAMED PROVIDENCE BRUINS ASSISTANT COACHES". The Official Site of the Providence Bruins. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
- ^ "LEACH HIRED AS HEAD COACH OF P-BRUINS". AHL. 31 July 2017.
- ^ "Jay Leach hired by Seattle Kraken". Boston Herald. 2021-07-06. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
- ^ Television interview with Scranton coach Jay Leach, WQMY-TV, 12 December 2015
External links edit
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database