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Reeling RailRiders fall at home again

Pennsylvania Game Commission accepting doe liscenses beginning Monday

As a veteran winding down his playing career with the Phoenix Coyotes, Mike Sullivan bumped into newcomer Jay Leach from time to time.Leach was drafted by Phoenix in 1998 and attended training camp after he finished his college career. Also in 1998, Sullivan joined Phoenix in the offseason and got to know Leach as he tried to carve his niche in the pro hockey ranks.Now, 17 years later, Leach is again the up-and-comer while Sullivan is the veteran mentor. Leach was tabbed as Sullivan&#8217;s assistant coach with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Tuesday, marking his first pro hockey coaching job in North America. Leach spent last year coaching in Germany as he begins to climb the coaching ladder.Sullivan, who has coached in the NHL at various capacities since 2002, is happy to help.&#8220;Jay has the youth, the energy and desire to be a coach,&#8221; Sullivan said. &#8220;He&#8217;s an impressive guy and with my experience as a coach I can help Jay moving forward.&#8220;But that doesn&#8217;t mean I can&#8217;t learn from him as well. This game is a constant evolution.&#8221;Sullivan said a lot of candidates expressed an interest in the assistant coach job, and Leach was among the final five after the applicants were narrowed down by Sullivan and Pittsburgh management.Sullivan highlighted several reasons behind the decision to hire Leach, whom he said will work primarily with the defensemen.&#8220;He&#8217;s not that far removed from playing and he can relate to the players,&#8221; Sullivan said. &#8220;He&#8217;s been through the experiences a lot of these guys are going through now.&#8220;One of the biggest things is his personality. He&#8217;s a real humble, likable guy who carries himself in a professional manner.&#8221;Leach was a defenseman in the ECHL, AHL and NHL for 12 seasons while Sullivan spent as many seasons as an NHL forward. Between the two they have 24 years combined as pro hockey players along with 779 NHL games.Sullivan said that experience is something that will benefit the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton players.&#8220;My hope is the message we&#8217;re trying to send will resonate because it&#8217;s coming from direct experience,&#8221; Sullivan said.NOTEBOOK- Sullivan will direct Pittsburgh&#8217;s development camp next week. Sullivan said he&#8217;s looking forward to sitting down with Pittsburgh coach Mike Johnston and his staff and meet for the first time in an official capacity. For the players, the week is more about getting to know the Pittsburgh organization and the expectations.&#8220;We have to be careful in the on-ice evaluation process in the middle of summer because some of these players haven&#8217;t skated in a while and they&#8217;ve been away from the competitive aspect,&#8221; Sullivan said. &#8220;It&#8217;s not the ideal situation for an on-ice evaluation, but it&#8217;s a great opportunity for the young players to learn about the organization&#8217;s values and standard of excellence.&#8221;- With Matt Murray expected to be the top netminder this season for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, there could be a competitive situation for the number two spot. Draft picks Tristan Jarry and Sean Maguire will attend development camp, along with Matt Skoff from Penn State. There has also has been talk of bringing in another goaltender on an AHL contract. Sullivan said there hasn&#8217;t been any discussions on personnel yet, he would welcome a competition for the second goaltender spot.&#8220;It&#8217;s not different than any other position,&#8221; Sullivan said. &#8220;Healthy competition brings out the best in people and we want to create an environment in Wilkes-Barre that&#8217;s competitive at every position.&#8221;- With several free agents signed to two-way deals, Sullivan said the moves highlight the reason why he wanted to become Wilkes-Barre/Scranton&#8217;s next head coach. &#8220;It shows that the Pittsburgh organization values the importance of depth and having a competitive AHL team,&#8221; Sullivan said. &#8220;We&#8217;re starting to see it come together, but what the team will look like in Wilkes-Barre is dependent on what happens in training camp and the exhibition season.&#8221;- After development camp, Sullivan intends to spend the rest of the summer watching video of the new and returning players to familiarize himself with their styles of play. &#8220;It&#8217;s a lot of video and it&#8217;s a labor love,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s something I enjoy.&#8221;- Pittsburgh re-signed defenseman Brian Dumoulin to a two-year contract on Thursday. The one-way deal runs through the 2016-17 season and carries an average annual value of $800,000. Dumoulin spent parts of the last three seasons with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.- The Penguins home opener at the Mohegan Sun Arena will be on Saturday, Oct. 17. Other home dates announced on Thursday include Oct. 17, Dec. 12, Jan. 9, Jan. 30, Feb. 13 and March 26. All are Saturdays. The complete schedule is usually released in August.<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>It&#8217;s not the first time Sullivan and Leach have crossed paths in their hockey careers</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Tom Veneskytvenesky@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Tom Venesky at 570-991-6395 or on Twitter @TLTomVenesky</shirttailMeta></div>

New Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Penguins coaches have a history together