Donato Picks Jay To Round Out Staff

Though he has spent his fair share of time on the ice in Cambridge, coaching neophyte Ted Donato ’91 hasn’t held the clipboard behind the bench in Bright Hockey Arena just yet. But after hiring one of his own former coaches, Donato can be sure there is one more person at his side who knows how it is done.

Filling the post left vacant by former Mark Mazzoleni assistant Gene Reilly, who defected to crosstown rival Northeastern, Donato named Bobby Jay to his staff on Sept. 1. The move rounded out a staff that retains Sean McCann ’94 for his third season with the program.

Jay’s style and teaching methods should be vaguely familiar to his new boss. Skating for the Manchester Monarchs, the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings, during his professional career’s twilight phase, Donato fell under the tutelage of an up-and-coming coach who had only recently hung up his own blades—none other than Bobby Jay.

“He was the oldest guy on the team,” Jay said. “The character he brought—he was almost a coach there. We had a real chance to talk hockey and talk x’s and o’s.”

Though Donato’s manner of play had earlier earned his respect, those locker room and rink-side chats left little doubt in Jay’s mind that he and Donato had a common approach to the game and, as a result, almost instant chemistry.

With a savvy veteran among his youthful ranks, Jay utilized Donato in a role akin to coaching almost as often as playing. Nominally, he said, a hierarchy remained intact, but the actual state of affairs more closely resembled a pair on almost level footing.

And when Donato offered the then-general manager of the Rampage, the Florida Panthers’ San Antonio affiliate, a chance to relocate to Cambridge, Jay knew what he would be getting into.

“Teddy was here,” Jay said. “And I liked the way he was going to do things at Harvard.”

For the Burlington, Mass. native the new position offers a chance to return home to the Northeast, where he walked on to the team at Merrimack College, helping guide the school’s program to an ECAC East Championship and its only NCAA tournament appearance as captain and senior in 1988.

But more than that, Jay said, the move just makes sense both personally and for his family.

“Family and being from the area were important to me,” Jay said. “Maybe the labor situation [and the possibility of an NHL lockout] did have a minor effect, but mostly it was just a great opportunity.”

So was the chance to land a coach of Jay’s caliber, according to Donato, despite his inexperience on the recruiting trail—a major aspect of a college assistant’s workload.

“I think there’s a balance of what is best for the kids, what’s best for the team and what’s best for the program,” Donato said. “From a head coach’s perspective, do you go with a guy that is just going to help you from a recruiting perspective or an on-ice basis? I might have stepped a little bit out of the box and gone with somebody I knew would give us a great deal of help from a hockey perspective.”

“That’s not to say I don’t have the utmost confidence [in Jay] as far as a recruiter,” he added.

And for Jay, the experience of dealing with younger players isn’t entirely foreign. Cultivating minor leaguers for the professional ranks has been his forte since entering the coaching ranks, so picking out the ones with the most promise won’t be too much of a leap.

“Obviously it’s something new and I have a tremendous amount to learn,” Jay said. “When it all comes down to it and you start watching hockey players and watching hockey you can see potential, who is a good player and who isn’t,” Jay said. “And I think that’s one of my strengths.”

—Staff writer Timothy J. McGinn can be reached at mcginn@fas.harvard.edu.