Paul Kirtland will be the new assistant coach at Yale University, several sources told New England Hockey Journal on Tuesday morning. Kirtland, 32, spent the past two seasons at Sacred Heart. The 2013 graduate of Ohio State also has been an assistant at Trinity College and with the USHL’s Dubuque Fighting Saints and NAHL’s Fairbanks...
Paul Kirtland will be the new assistant coach at Yale University, several sources told New England Hockey Journal on Tuesday morning.
Kirtland, 32, spent the past two seasons at Sacred Heart. The 2013 graduate of Ohio State also has been an assistant at Trinity College and with the USHL’s Dubuque Fighting Saints and NAHL’s Fairbanks Ice Dogs.
The Lenexa, Kansas, native played three seasons with the Buckeyes from 2009-12. In 49 career games, he scored three goals. Prior to OSU, he played for Fairbanks and prepped at Holderness.
Kirtland replaces Ryan Donald, who departed Yale to become head coach of a BCHL expansion franchise in Cranbrook. Remaining on head coach Keith Allain’s staff is Josh Siembida, a Quinnipiac alum who has been with the Bulldogs since 2012.
Who might fill assistant void at Union?
As I reported last week, Union associate head coach Jason Tapp is leaving the Dutchmen to take a similar post at Dartmouth under newly hired bench boss Reid Cashman.
As a result, Union head coach Rick Bennett will be looking for a new assistant to round out his staff that also includes John Ronan, a South Boston, Mass., native who played college hockey at Maine.
Bennett has some interesting options. As I noted last week, Union alum and current Wilkes University head coach Tyler Hynes could be in the mix.
There are some other intriguing names to consider. Albertus Magnus head coach Kyle Wallack could jump back to ECAC Hockey, where he first excelled as an assistant at Yale before moving on to Vermont.
John Rose, recently let go at Dartmouth, is a possibility. Doug Christiansen, currently the head coach and GM of the Indy Fuel in the ECHL, and Alex Todd, the head coach of Trine University, are Union alums who would make sense.
Nichols looking to promote from within
According to a college hockey source, Nichols College could be close to promoting Mike Parnell from assistant to head coach. Parnell, 27, is a 2017 graduate of the school and served as an assistant to Parker Burgess this past season.
Burgess left the Bison earlier this offseason to take the head coaching job with the Janesville Jets in the NAHL. Parnell, from Roseville, Minn., has previous experience as an assistant at Alaska-Fairbanks and Trine University. A defenseman in his playing days, he played three seasons at Nichols, recording six goals and 13 assists in 69 career games.
