It took just over two months for Mark Dennehy to land on his feet. After Merrimack terminated its 13-year head coach in March, the Dorchester, Mass., native and Boston College alum was without a job. Today, the Wheeling Nailers, the ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins, hired Dennehy, 50, to be the team’s head coach....
It took just over two months for Mark Dennehy to land on his feet. After Merrimack terminated its 13-year head coach in March, the Dorchester, Mass., native and Boston College alum was without a job.
Today, the Wheeling Nailers, the ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins, hired Dennehy, 50, to be the team’s head coach. Outside of one year playing minor pro in Europe, it will be Dennehy’s first ever foray into pro hockey.
The 1991 Boston College alum was an assistant at Princeton from 1994-1999 before becoming the head coach at Fairfield for one season. He then moved on to UMass Amherst where he was an assistant from 2000-2005 before heading to North Andover.
Dennehy led Merrimack to its first NCAA Division I Tournament appearance since 1988 during the 2010-11 season. His connections to the Penguins organization runs deep, despite never playing or coaching pro hockey in North America. He played high school hockey at BC High with Pittsburgh head coach Mike Sullivan, now a two-time Stanley Cup Champion, and he played college hockey at Boston College with Bill Guerin, the Penguins Assistant GM.
If his teams and style of play at Merrimack are any indication, Dennehy will look to build his teams in Wheeling from the net out with an emphasis on puck possession and blocking shots. Even in down years under Dennehy, the Warriors always fought hard and played tough.
Dennehy was fired following the conclusion of Merrimack’s season which came after a Hockey East Quarterfinals series loss against BC. Since then, former New Hampshire and Providence associate head coach Scott Borek (Swampscott, Mass.) has been named head coach at Merrimack.
