GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) – St. Norbert alum Spencer Carbery was hired as the new head coach of the Washington Capitals of the NHL on Tuesday.
“It’s a tremendous honor and privilege to be named the head coach of the Washington Capitals,” said Spencer Carbery in a press release by the team. “I would like to thank the Capitals organization for affording me the opportunity to lead this team. I look forward to working with this group of talented players and building upon the winning culture in place. I would also like to thank the Toronto Maple Leafs organization for all their support over the past two years and wish them all the best in the future.”
Carbery spent the last two seasons on the bench in Toronto as an assistant for the Maple Leafs. He was in charge of the Maple Leafs’ power play which was one of the best in the league after converting on 26.6 percent of their power play opportunities. That’s good enough for the second best power play unit in the league.
Prior to joining the Maple Leafs, Carbery was the head coach of the Capitals American Hockey League affiliate, the Hershey Bears, for three seasons.
“You know, I think this was a resurrection spot for spencer. I really do. He came from a division 1 school where things weren’t going very well. Spent his 3 years here, played in 2 nationl championship games, an overtime loss in 04 and then again in 06. Then he went on and really became a self-made guy. Coach in the ECHL, Coach of the Year twice. Climbed the food chain so to speak. Went to the AHL, coaches the Hershey Bears and was Coach of the Year. Then Toronoto came calling. He was on the bench there and ran percentage wise the best power play in the national hockey league. He has earned everything doing it his own way,” said St. Norbert head coach Tim Coghlin.
The now 41-year old Carbery played college hockey with St. Norbert between 2004-06, and tallied 55 goals and 100 points in his 87 games with the Green Knights. He was an AHCA All-American in 2004, and USCHO All-American in 2005. The Green Knights went on to finish as NCAA runner up in two of Carbery’s three seasons with the program (2004, 2006).
“It’s pretty cool. obviously all our players and staff are proud for and of spencer. there are only 32 jobs in the entire world that are called head coaches in the national hockey league and spencer has one. i wouldn’t say we saw it coming in 04, 05, and 06. and spencer and I laugh about it. He is back here every now and then and pops in. He is very passionate about the St. Norbert hockey program and we are just very proud for him,” said Coghlin.
Carbery went on to play 181 games in the ECHL and 63 games in the CHL after his college career.
