Paul Jerrard, former NHL assistant, North Star player, dies of cancer at 57

@ap.news FILE – Calgary Flames assistant coach Paul Jerrard, left, fist-bumps left wing Ryan Lomberg (56) as the team leaves the ice after defeating the New Jersey Devils in an NHL hockey game on Feb. 8, 2018, in Newark, N.J. Jerrard, one of the few Black assistant coaches in the NHL during his three stints in the league, died Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023. He was 57. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

Omaha assistant hockey coach Paul Jerrard has died after a battle with cancer. He was 57.

A spokesperson for the college team confirmed Jerrard’s wife told the school he died Wednesday at a hospital in Omaha.

Jerrard spent two seasons as an assistant with the NHL’s Calgary Flames from 2016-18 and the Dallas Stars from 2011-13 and one with the Colorado Avalanche in 2002-03.

During his stint with the Flames, Jerrard was the only Black assistant coach in the league. A longtime minor league defenseman as a player who skated in five NHL games with the Minnesota North Stars in 1988 and ‘89, Jerrard has spent the past five seasons on coach Mike Gabinet’s staff at Omaha.