Jason O’Leary (born August 17, 1978) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

coach.

Career

Born in

Fredericton Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River (Bay of Fundy), Saint John River, ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

, O’Leary played ice hockey at St. Thomas University in his hometown of

. Upon graduation, he worked as a teacher in

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

and later in

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, while coaching the respective schools’ ice hockey teams. He then also worked in

Hockey Canada Hockey Canada (which merged with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in 1994) is the national governing body of ice hockey and ice sledge hockey in Canada. It is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and controls the majority ...

’s High Performance Program at the U16 and U17 level. In 2009, he accepted the position as head coach of the Okanagan Hockey Academy in St. Pölten,

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. During his time in Austria, O’Leary also served as head coach of the country's Men's U18 & U20 teams. and U20 national teams. He moved to Switzerland prior to the 2013–14 season, joining the coaching staff of

SC Langenthal Schlittschuh Club Langenthal known as SC Langenthal is a Swiss ice hockey team that currently competes in the third tier, MyHockey League. They played in the Swiss League, the second tier of the main professional ice hockey league in Switzerland ...

of the second-tier division

National League B The Swiss League, also known as the Sky Swiss League for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the main professional ice hockey league in Switzerland, behind the National League (ice hockey), National League. The winners of the league each ...

(NLB) as an assistant. When Olivier Horak stepped down in December 2014, O’Leary took over the head coaching job at SCL. In the 2016–17 season, he led the team to the NLB title, beating the

SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers The SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers are a professional ice hockey club from Rapperswil, Switzerland, and are members of the National League. History The Lakers were founded in 1945 and were known as SC Rapperswil-Jona until 2005, when the club change ...

in the finals. He parted ways with Langenthal after the conclusion of the season and was named assistant coach at

National League A The National League (NL) is a professional ice hockey league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss league system. Prior to the 2017–18 season, the league was known as National League A. During the 2018–19 season, the league h ...

club Genève-Servette HC on May 19, 2017. On May 31, 2018, O'Leary was named head coach of the EVZ Academy, the farm team of

EV Zug EV Zug is a professional men's ice hockey team from Zug, Switzerland. It is a member of the National League and plays its home games at the Bossard Arena. History EV Zug won its first championship in the 1997–98 season, and the second one in t ...

. He took over the head coaching job of German DEL side

Iserlohn Roosters The Iserlohn Roosters are a professional ice hockey team based in Iserlohn, North Rhine-Westphalia. They are members of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) since 2000 and play their home games at the Balver-Zinn Arena which is also known as ''Eissp ...

in March 2019. O'Leary was relieved of his duties in February 2021 after losing seven of the previous nine games. The week before, it was announced that he would serve as head coach of Swiss side

SCL Tigers The SC Langnau Tigers are a professional ice hockey team from Langnau im Emmental, Switzerland. They play in the National League (NL). The team plays its home games in the 6,050-seat Emmental Versicherung Arena, which is currently one of the sm ...

from the beginning of the 2021–22 season. He was released on January 16, 2022, following seven consecutive losses. On December 23, 2022, O'Leary was named head coach of the

Ducs d'Angers The Association des Sports de Glisse d'Angers is a French professional ice hockey team based in Angers playing in the Ligue Magnus. The team currently use the name of "Les Ducs d'Angers". The team's mascot is an eagle-owl, or grand duc (literally ' ...

of the French

Ligue Magnus The Ligue Magnus, currently known as Synerglace Ligue Magnus for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's division of the French ice hockey pyramid, established in 1906. The league operated under a variety of names before taking that of its champio ...

. In January 2022, guided the team to a second-place finish in the Continental Cup.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oleary, Jason 1978 births Canadian ice hockey coaches Ice hockey people from New Brunswick St. Thomas University (New Brunswick) alumni Sportspeople from Fredericton Living people