College hockey: Changes coming in coaching circles

Penn State assistant coach Matt Lindsay has joined the staff at UMass. (Craig Houtz/PSU Athletics)

After nine seasons as an assistant coach at Yale, Josh Siembida will not return to the Bulldogs’ bench for the 2021-22 season, according to multiple sources.

Siembida served three seasons as the volunteer goaltending coach from 2012-15 before joining Keith Allain’s full-time staff at the beginning of the 2015-16 campaign. Yale is the only coaching stop on Siembida’s résumé.

A 2006 graduate of Quinnipiac, Siembida played two years for Rand Pecknold’s Bobcats. The Dorchester, Ontario, native spent the first years of his collegiate career at North Dakota. Allain hired Paul Kirtland last offseason to replace Ryan Donald, who left to take the head coaching position with the BCHL’s Cranbrook Bucks.

Curry’s Manastersky leaving for Union

Curry College head coach TJ Manastersky is leaving the Division 3 college after nine seasons to become an assistant coach at Union College.

Manastersky, from Oakville, Ontario, played two seasons at SUNY-Oswego. He was on the staff at Canisius from 2007-09 before spending three years at SUNY-Fredonia. His ascent to head coach at Curry was relatively quick.

He’ll join Maine alum John Ronan (South Boston, Mass.) on head coach Rick Bennett’s (Springfield, Mass.) staff with the Dutchmen.

Riga making changes

Recently hired Holy Cross head coach Bill Riga will not retain either of the two assistant coaches, who served under Dave Berard, per sources. Gone are Peter Roundy and Max Mobley.

Roundy, a 2010 graduate of Stonehill, where he was a captain of the hockey team as a senior, had been on Berard’s staff since 2015. He had been an assistant coach at Trinity College for four seasons prior. The Salem, Mass., native will be a candidate for several openings around college hockey in the New England region. He’s reportedly interested in Boston University’s director of hockey operations position.

Mobley was a newcomer to HC, having just two years of service under his belt. The St. Lawrence alum previously had been a volunteer assistant at Notre Dame and an assistant coach at Hamilton College. Mobley is respected within hockey circles and should get another gig fairly soon.

Lindsay joins UMass

Penn State University assistant coach Matt Lindsay, a Deerfield, Mass., native and Williams College alum, is leaving the Nittany Lions to take an assistant position closer to home. He will join the University of Massachusetts hockey program as an assistant coach, contingent upon the successful completion of a background check, UMass head coach Greg Carvel announced on Thursday. Lindsay comes to Amherst following 10 seasons at Penn State, where he helped the Nittany Lions to two NCAA tournament berths and two Big Ten titles.

Lindsay also had applied for a position on Pecknold’s staff at Quinnipiac. Both programs were looking for an assistant coach after Riga took the Holy Cross gig and Ben Barr headed north to Orono to become head coach at Maine.

Carvel with NHL suitors?

Speaking of UMass, ESPN’s John Buccigross reported that the Buffalo Sabres reached out to Carvel, regarding their head coaching position. Carvel denied any involvement with the NHL organization. He does have Empire State roots, having played and coached at St. Lawrence. He has NHL experience as an assistant coach and scout for Anaheim Ducks and Ottawa Senators.

What will Barr’s staff look like?

Barr also has decisions to make in terms of his staff with the Black Bears. Alum and longtime associate head coach Ben Guite was named the interim head coach after Red Gendron’s sudden passing in April. Guite was ultimately passed up for the permanent position. Most college hockey sources I’ve spoken to believe it is unlikely Guite will remain on the staff. Assistant coach Alfie Michaud, also an alum, is more likely to stay on under Barr.