Yale filled its vacant assistant coaching position by hiring Sacred Heart assistant Paul Kirtland. The position was vacated back in March when Ryan Donald was hired as the head coach and GM of the new BCHL franchise in Cranbrook.
Kirtland has been on Sacred Heart’s staff for the last two seasons. There, he had responsibilities in recruiting and oversaw the penalty kill for head coach C.J. Marottolo, himself a former Yale assistant.
“We are excited to add Paul Kirtland to our coaching staff. He has been extremely successful wherever he has coached and is one of the brightest young minds in college hockey,” said Yale head coach Keith Allain. “Paul will spend lots of time developing our defensemen and working on the penalty kill, but his contributions won’t stop there. He is an excellent skills coach and has experience working in all facets of the game. Each one of our players will benefit from his presence on our staff. His hiring represents our deep commitment to the development of our people as we relentlessly pursue championships.”
Kirtland was an assistant in the USHL with Dubuque in 2017-18. He’s a native of Connecticut (Vernon, Conn.) who played collegiately at Ohio State. He’s had other stops in his coaching career in the NAHL and at Trinity in the NESCAC.
“I am excited about the opportunity afforded to me by Coach Allain and the Yale University Men’s Hockey program,” said Kirtland. “I look forward to being part of a program with such prestigious history and am eager to work with the players and staff in order to contribute to the attainment of our goals, both individually and collectively.”
