After completing his thirteenth year with Merrimack College, head coach Mark Dennehy was informed that he will not be returning to the Warriors’ bench next season.
He was told of the move after losing game two of the Hockey East quarterfinals to Boston College saturday.
The 21 losses this season are the most since 2014 in which their record was 8-22-3, Before his hiring, Merrimack lost 20 or more games in six of eight seasons.
In the 2016-2017 season, Merrimack swept then No. 1 Boston University men’s hockey team.
Assistant coach Curtis Carr will remain with the team and run the day-to-day operations while Merrimack searches for a new coach which will begin immediately.
Associate Bill Gilligan was also relieved of his duties.
Dennehy had a record of 168-243-60 at Merrimack, and made a NCAA tournament appearance in 2011.
BREAKING: Merrimack will announce today that Mark Dennehy will not return as head coach of the men's hockey program. Dennehy was informed following last night's Game 2 loss to Boston College in overtime.
— Mike McMahon (@MikeMcMahonCHN) March 11, 2018
Very sad news…always got the most out of the players he had, and Merrimack must lead the league in one goal losses! Hmmm…wonder who they think can do better.
Makes me wonder how prevalent firings are in D-1 college hockey, particularly those that are related to a team’s lack of success. Of course we always hear about it in college football.
They play in a high school rink and it must to hard to take recruits there. They play in a league where there are very strong teams with traditional back rounds in winning hockey. That said a great recruiter can make the difference as Providence proved against us not too many years ago.