The University of Nebraska–Omaha confirmed the death of Paul Jerrard, who served as one of the few Black assistant coaches in the NHL during his three stints in the league over the past two decades. He was 57.
Jerrard passed away on Wednesday in an Omaha hospital, according to a school representative for the athletic department. Jerrard has been on Mike Gabinet’s staff at Omaha for the past five years.
Jerrard has worked as an assistant coach for multiple NHL teams, including the Calgary Flames (2016–18), the Dallas Stars (2011–13), and the Colorado Avalanche (2002–03). Jerrard was the only African-American assistant coach in the NHL while he worked for the Flames.
Frantz Jean, goaltender coach for the Tampa Bay Lightning, and Nigel Kirwan, video coach for the Los Angeles Kings, are the only two Black assistants in the NHL at this time.
Brad Treliving, GM of the Calgary Flames, hired Jerrard to coach under Glen Gulutzan in 2016 after meeting him while they were both playing in the minors. Treliving praised the Winnipeg, Manitoba, native for being a genuine person and a great listener whose focus on cultivating personal relationships showed in his work.
“He was compassionate; he was firm when he needed to be,” Treliving said by phone Thursday. “(Gulutzan) talked about his ability to teach, his ability to connect with players. Players trusted him, and you could see it.”
Between stints in the National Hockey League, Jerrard worked as an assistant coach for the Hershey Bears, Iowa Stars, Texas Stars, and Utica Thrashers of the American Hockey League, as well as for Lowell of the AHL and Lake Superior State University, where he played from 1983 to 1987.
When the New York Rangers drafted him in 1983, it was in the ninth round. Jerrard spent the majority of his career playing defense in the minors. Soon after his playing career ended in 1988–89 with the Minnesota North Stars of the National Hockey League, he transitioned into coaching.
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Jerrard participated in the NHL Coaches Association’s Black, Indigenous, and Pasifika (BIPOC) Coaches Program. Lindsay Pennal, president of the Coaches Association, released a statement in which she praised Jerrard as an outstanding coach and a more admirable person.
The NHL Coaches Association praised him for his “unmatched” dedication to the sport and to the development of his players and his colleagues. Paul has been very kind in volunteering his time to teach our younger coaches and impart insights gained from his long hockey career.
“Our program will be forever indebted to P.J. for his countless positive impact,” said Gabinet, who knew Jerrard since playing for him with Iowa of the AHL in 2005-06. “P.J. attacked each day with a team-first attitude, vibrant enthusiasm, and an unmatched willingness to help grow and develop our young men. … There were no small jobs for P.J., and he never had a bad day. He made the people around him better, and we will forever miss his presence in our locker room and lives.”
In speaking to The Associated Press in 2018, Jerrard expressed his desire to see more minorities in coaching and officiating roles in hockey so that young people would see “if they’re skilled, dedicated, and enthusiastic, there’s an opportunity for them.”
“I’m just another coach who’s trying to do a good job in the league and stay in the league,” Jerrard said at the time. “I guess I am now in a little bit of a position of a role model, but my drive to be a role model isn’t due to the color of my skin. It’s just the way I wanted to carry myself as a human being, the way I want to be looked at: doing the right thing and working hard.”
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