Boston Bruins: Providence Bruins Add to Coaching Staff
Boston Bruins: Providence Bruins Add to Coaching Staff Ahead of 2016-17 Season
Boston Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney yesterday announced the organization has hired Jay Leach and Trent Whitfield as assistant coaches of the Providence Bruins. Leach and Whitfield will serve under head coach Kevin Dean, who was named to his position on July 18, 2016. Leach will be working primarily with the team’s defensemen while Whitfield will work primarily with the team’s forwards. Both are former players for their new employer.
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Leach recently served as assistant coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in 2015-16, helping the team advance to the quarterfinals of the 2016 Calder Cup Playoffs. He is the nephew of former Bruins winger Steve Leach, and former St. Lawrence Saints defenseman and current Dallas Stars scout Mark Leach.
The 36-year-old Leach played four years at Providence College as a defenseman from 1997-2001 before embarking on a 13 year professional career in which he played 679 games in the minors and 70 games in the NHL for five different teams. Two of those games were played for the Bruins during the 2005-06 season. He spent parts of four seasons (2003-07) with the Providence Bruins, where he played in 209 games.
Like Leach, Whitfield had a long pro career with extended time in the minors. In 15 years he played 820 games between the American Hockey League and the East Coast Hockey League. He also played in 194 games in the NHL for four different teams. This included 16 games with the Bruins in 2009-10 and 1 game in 2011-12.
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A native of Alameda, Saskatchewan, Whitfield was originally selected by the Bruins in the fourth round (100th overall) of the 1996 NHL Entry Draft. He last four years playing pro hockey were spent with the Providence Bruins, where he captained the team for three of those years.