The coaching staff of the Bruins won't be going anywhere in the near future. Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli announced on Sunday that the club has signed assistant coaches Doug Houda, Craig Ramsay and Geoff Ward, goaltending coach Bob Essensa and video coach Brant Berglund to multiyear extensions. Per team policy, financial terms of the deals will not be disclosed.
Houda is in his fourth season as an assistant coach with the Black and Gold. He came to the Bruins following three seasons as an assistant coach with the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League. He played in 561 career NHL games with Buffalo, Detroit, Hartford, the New York Islanders, Los Angeles and Anaheim.
Ramsay is in his third season as an assistant coach with the Bruins organization. Ramsay played 14 years in the NHL and has over 20 years of coaching, scouting and front office experience with NHL teams. Ramsay was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the first round (first overall) in the 1971 NHL Amateur Draft and played his entire 14-year NHL career with the Sabres.
Ward is in his third season as an assistant coach with the Bruins. He arrived in Boston with 12 years of coaching experience at the Ontario Hockey League and American Hockey League levels, in addition to two head coaching stints in Germany.
Essensa is in his seventh season with the Bruins organization. He played for six NHL teams over a 14-year professional career and played his final season in the NHL with the Sabres in 2001-02. His career record was 173-176-47 with a 3.15 goals-against average and 18 shutouts in 446 games with Winnipeg, Detroit, Edmonton, Phoenix, Vancouver and Buffalo.
Berglund is in his seventh season with the organization as the team’s video coach. He graduated from Boston University in 2001 with a degree in communications. While a student at BU, he worked with the Terriers’ nationally ranked hockey program as a team manager and later as a video coordinator.
