The Elmira Jackals, ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres announced today that former Hawkesbury Hawks & Cumberland Grads Head Coach David Leger has become the clubs 12th Head Coach in team history.
Before his time as a coach, the 48-year old Orleans, ON native saw the game from a different perspective, as an on-ice official. He began as a linesman but would eventually turn to refereeing where he worked Jr. A, B, and C in the Ottawa region. His final season as a referee was spent in the Swiss Elite League in 1997-98.
The coaching legacy would begin during the 1998-99 season as Leger would join the Hawkesbury Hawks as an Assistant Coach. He would eventually take over as the teams Head Coach mid-way through the 1999-00 season.
Leger would move on to University level hockey in 2000 when he joined the University of Ottawa as an Assistant Coach. He would become the Gee-Gee’s Head Coach in 2003, a position which he would hold until 2011.
Between 2011 and 2015, Leger would coach overseas in both Asia and Hungary, with a short one season stint in between with the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s.
He would return to the CCHL partly through the 2014-15 season and take over as Head Coach for the Cumberland Grads. His stay would be short lived however, as he would join the ECHL’s Evansville Icemen for the 2015-16 season as an Assistant Coach.
“It is my sincere privilege to be the next Head Coach for the Elmira Jackals and I look forward to providing our fans with a team that works hard every night,” said Leger. “I also look forward to working with the players to help them develop to their full potential during this important time in their professional careers. The ECHL provides a great challenge for players to push themselves every time they step on the ice and we want to have players who want to compete every night for their team. I am looking forward to meeting with the Jackals fans when I get to Elmira and I hope they are as excited as I am to get the season underway”.
Team Release found on the Elmira Jackals Official Website
http://www.jackalshockey.com/news-1/jackals-name-david-leger-head-coach
