The University of Maine men’s hockey team will be looking for a 21st NCAA Tournament berth this season, in the program’s 50th year.
The program has been among the nation’s elite, and one of the people who put it on the map was former coach Jay Leach.
Leach died on Sept. 30 in Saco at age 75 after having dementia for years.
When the late Shawn Walsh was hired to take UMaine into the Hockey East era before the league’s inaugural 1984-85 season, he chose Leach as one of his assistants.
And it will forever go down as one of the best decisions he ever made.
Leach was instrumental in recruiting several of the players who would form the foundation of the teams that earned UMaine its first ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 1986-87 and its initial Frozen Four appearance the following year before he moved on to become an assistant coach with the National Hockey League’s Hartford Whalers.
“He was the perfect assistant coach,” said former UMaine All-American defenseman and 17-year National Hockey League veteran Eric Weinrich. “He was a father figure to all of us. He treated all of us like we were one of his (children).”
“He meant everything to me,” said former Black Bear center and 1987-88 Hockey East Rookie of the Year Mario Thyer. “He was the only reason I came to Maine.
“I remember him coming up to Montreal and talking to me, my mother and my brother. He was always very pleasant. My mother and brother didn’t speak much English. He gave me the opportunity to come to Maine. He shaped my life and not just in hockey.”
Former University of Maine All-American defenseman and New York Islanders head coach Jack Capuano said Leach had a prominent role in him coming to UMaine.
“When he recruited me, he was totally transparent and honest. You couldn’t meet a better guy and one of the main reasons I went to Maine was the trust factor,” Capuano said. “He knew the game inside and out but, with the generational players of today, you had to be able to communicate and develop relationships with the players and that’s what Jay did.”
Capuano said Leach also cared about the families of his players and followed the careers of his players even after they left Maine and eventually retired from hockey.
Weinrich and Capuano mentioned that Leach would come on the ice before practice and play games with the players.
“He was great to be on the ice with,” Capuano said. “He’d mess around with all of us. Shawn was more serious, but Jay was a little bit opposite and that’s what you needed, that’s what kept everything together.”
”We’d play these fun games, and he would always be involved,” said Weinrich. “I loved being on the ice with him.”
After leaving UMaine for the Whalers, Leach would go on to compile an impressive resume that included head coaching jobs with the American Hockey League’s Springfield Indians and Hershey Bears and assistant coaching jobs with the NHL’s Whalers, Los Angeles Kings, Atlanta Thrashers, New Jersey Devils and Washington Capitals as well the AHL’s Portland Pirates.
He was also an assistant coach at Merrimack College and for five United States teams in the World Championships.
In 2013, he returned to UMaine after being hired as an assistant coach by the late Red Gendron. He would spend four seasons with Gendron.
“He was the architect behind the first teams that took Maine’s program to national prominence,” Gendron told the Bangor Daily News in 2013. “I’ve talked to a lot of guys who played in that era, and they said Jay Leach was the biggest reason they came to Maine. He brings an aura with him.”
As a result of his time spent in Atlanta, Leach got involved with the youth hockey programs in the area, and one of the players he coached was Mitch Fossier from Alpharetta, Georgia.
After Leach returned to UMaine, Fossier received a call from him inviting him to come on a recruiting visit to UMaine. Leach convinced Gendron to give him a full scholarship, Fossier said.
“I never would have ended up at Maine if it wasn’t for Leachy,” said Fossier, who was a two-time All-Hockey East selection and is tied for 30th on the school’s all-time scoring list with 128 points in 134 games. “He cared so much about the game and loved the game, but he made sure he took care of you as a person, first. It was such a privilege to get to know him and play for him. He was such a great man.”
Leach was also known for his sense of humor.
“It was hilarious to be around him. He was always making jokes,” Fossier said. “He was a funny fellow.”
Ben Guite, a former UMaine standout and NHLer and now men’s hockey coach at Bowdoin College, had just retired from playing pro hockey when he landed his first coaching job as an assistant at UMaine in Leach’s first season back (2013-14).
And Leach became his coaching guru.
“Red said just follow this guy around. He will show you the ropes. He will introduce you to people and teach you what it takes,” Guite said. “Jay was a big mentor of mine. He was a good and genuine person, and he connected with everyone. When he walked into a rink, everyone would bend over backwards to help him because of the way he treated people.”
“Recruits knew Jay would teach them the game and how to do things the right way in order to get them to that next level,” added Guite, who also mentioned Leach’s sense of humor.
“We shared a lot of laughter. We were getting on a flight from Philadelphia to Boston one time, and it was really crowded,” Guite said. “Everyone was ticked off. Jay said, ‘You need a shoehorn to get in here.’ The place erupted. He had that touch and timing and effect on people.”
Leach was an outdoorsman who loved to hunt and fish and had several ties to UMaine.
His parents, Chuck and Mary, were UMaine graduates, and his mother, the former Mary Healey, was from Eastport. His late younger brother Jon played on the first four UMaine teams under Jack Semler. And one of his three children, Heather, was a UMaine swimmer.
In his obituary, Leach requested that in lieu of flowers, well-wishers would consider making a donation to the men’s hockey team via the Black Bear Student Experience Fund.
He will be sorely missed.