Middlesex School Athletics

Over the past 30 years Bobby Jay, a Burlington, MA, native, has played, coached and taught at every level of hockey from learn-to-skate to the NHL to the Olympics, including both Men's and Women's Professional hockey.  He was a Middlesex League All-Star while at Burlington (MA) High School, and then went on to a postgraduate year at Canterbury School.

Coach Jay attended Merrimack College where he began his career as a walk-on defenseman with the Men’s Ice Hockey team and was promoted to Captain before he graduated with a degree in Business Management. He was awarded the Buzz Miller Unsung Hero Award and was a member of the two-time ECAC Champion and NCAA Division I Quarter Finalist.  Following Merrimack College, Jay was an undrafted free agent and signed to play professionally in Halmstad, Sweden. 

In his 10-year career as a professional hockey player, Bobby Jay played for the Los Angeles Kings and was an all-star defenseman in the IHL, winning two Turner Cups.  He later signed on to play three seasons for the Fort Wayne Komets where he was an IHL All Star defenseman and Turner Cup Champion. The 1993 Komets were undefeated throughout the playoffs, sweeping all three series for a combined record of 12-0 on route to the cup, while Jay was named Defensive Player of the Year for the Komets.

The following season, Jay signed an NHL contract with the Los Angeles Kings. In his first NHL game, played at Madison Square Garden, he recorded an assist on a goal scored by Wayne Gretzky.

In 1994, Coach Jay signed with the Detroit Vipers in the IHL where he played five seasons, culminating in another Turner Cup Championship in 1997, where he led the team as a captain. Upon retiring from his playing career in 1999, Jay began his professional coaching career, signing with the Tampa Bay Lightning and coaching their top affiliate, the Detroit Vipers, for two seasons.
Coach Jay spent five years in the AHL and IHL coaching for the Los Angeles Kings, Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers organizations. He also served as the General Manager for the San Antonio Rampage, Florida’s top affiliate in the AHL.

During the 2004 NHL lockout, Coach Jay accepted a position as Assistant Coach for the Harvard Men’s Ice Hockey team. In his five-year tenure at Harvard University, the Crimson won an ECAC Championship and earned an NCAA tournament bid. While on the Harvard coaching staff, he also served as the Head of Recruiting from 2009-2011.

In 2011, Coach Jay joined the U.S. Women's National Hockey program as an Assistant Coach. He helped lead the team to a Gold medal in the IIHF 2013 World Championship and a Silver medal at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.

In 2015, Coach Jay was named Head Coach of the NWHL's Boston Pride, coaching for two seasons and leading the team to the inaugural Isobel Cup Championship in 2016 and a finals appearance in 2017.

Bobby Jay is currently a professional scout for the Carolina Hurricanes and serves as the Director of Hockey for the East Coast Wizards Hockey Program.  In his role as Director of Hockey for the East Coast Wizards, Jay oversees the organization’s boys’ hockey program, serves as head coach of the U16 Boys’ Elite Team and directs both on-ice skills sessions and Elite Summer Skills programs. In addition, Coach Jay has coached at the U8, U10, U12 and U14 girls’ levels with the Wizards, winning two state championships. 

With a wealth of experience as a professional player, a General Manager, and a professional, DI NCAA, Olympic and Elite Youth Coach, Bobby Jay has a proven record of success and a coaching reputation marked by character development, positive culture-building and mentoring, and an identity as a teacher of the game.  We are excited to welcome Head Coach Bobby Jay into the Middlesex community, and he looks forward to getting to know and work with all of the boys in our Ice Hockey program.