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The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins named Clark Donatelli as head coach. Donatelli becomes the 10th head coach in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton history after spending the last four seasons with the Wheeling Nailers (ECHL).Jay Leach, who has been serving as interim head coach since Mike Sulllivan was promoted to Pittsburgh, has been named associate coach. Leach led the Penguins to a 3-0-0-1 record in that time.&#8220;Clark Donatelli brings a wealth of head coaching experience and has been with the organization for five years,&#8221; said Wilkes-Barre/Scranton general manager Jason Botterill. &#8220;Donatelli has helped develop 11 players in Wheeling that are currently on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton roster. Coach Donatelli and Associate Coach Jay Leach will make a dynamic team that will continue the path set by Mike Sullivan.&#8221;Donatelli worked with Sullivan during Wilkes-Barre/Scranton training camp this year and the two were teammates at Boston University and in the IHL.During training camp, Sullivan reflected on Donatelli as a player and a teammate.&#8220;Clark was like the energizer bunny out there. A powerful, dynamic skater. He was a buzz saw, a dog-on-a-bone on the puck,&#8221; Sullivan said in October. &#8220;And talk about personalities in the locker room. Clark was a lot of fun to be around. He still is.&#8221;Donatelli, 50, is Wheeling&#8217;s all-time leader in coaching wins, posting an overall record of 133-109-9-20. He is also the only coach in Nailers history to take the team to consecutive playoff appearances.Donatelli served one season as the Nailers&#8217; assistant coach before taking over as head coach mid season in 2011-12. In his five years total behind the bench for Wheeling, Donatelli&#8217;s teams qualified for the Kelly Cup Playoffs four times.After three years playing at Boston University from 1984-87, Donatelli embarked on a seven-year pro hockey career that included 35 NHL games in which he put up three goals and three assists for six points. In his third and final season with the Terriers, Donatelli was a teammate to Sullivan.In addition to his pro hockey r&#233;sum&#233;, Donatelli had extensive experience playing for the United States. Donatelli represented the United States three times in the IIHF World Championships, captained Team USA in the 1985 World Junior Championship, and made the U.S. Olympic squad in 1988 and 1992, serving as team captain in &#8217;92.The current Wilkes-Barre/Scranton roster has 13 players that played under Donatelli at one time in Wheeling. Donatelli was known for getting players back on track when they were sent down to work on their game.&#8220;Pittsburgh understands the development side of things and they utilize Wheeling as a place for guys to get better so when they come back up they don&#8217;t have to wait to get back into the lineup,&#8221; Donatelli said in October. &#8220;Just go down there, play, and get your swagger back.&#8221;<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>

Donatelli named new WBS Penguins head coach