Bryan Lefley

Biographical information

RolesCoach
SexMale
Full nameBryan Andrew•Lefley
Used nameBryan•Lefley
Born18 October 1948 in Grosse Isle, Manitoba (CAN)
Died29 October 1997 in Ora, Bolzano-Bozen (ITA)
NOC Italy
Nationality Canada

Biography

Bryan Andrew Lefley was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. Born in a small town 35 km. from Winnipeg, the first of seven children, he grew up on cattle-grazing farm. He was educated at Warren High School where he became a talented hockey defenceman. At the age of 16 New York Rangers took an option on him, before he then went to university in Nelson, some 1700 km. from his home.

Between 1964-72 Lefley played for Winnipeg Rangers, Nelson Maple Leafs, and Omaha Knights before getting the opportunity to play in the NHL with New York Islanders. The same season he made his NHL début, his brother Chuck won his second Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens. In total, Bryan made 228 NHL appearances.

In 1978 Lefley crossed the Atlantic to play in Europe, firstly with Düsseldorfer, and then Bern. His last season as a player was 1981-82, when he then turned to coaching. He made his début at Zurich, and then coached Basel, Merano (with whom he won the Italian title in 1986), Dusseldorf and Varese, where he won another Italian title in 1989 with the great goalie Jim Corsi in the side. Lefley was then assistant coach to the French national team, and later the Swiss national assistant, before coaching the Swiss club sides Ambrì Piotta and Bern

Lefley became head coach of the Italian national team in 1992 and imposed a new mentality on the squad. He took them to a best-ever sixth place at the 1994 World Championships, held in Italy, having coached them to a ninth place finish at the Lillehammer Winter Olympics three months earlier.

On 28 October 1997, while preparing the national team for the Nagano Games, Lefley attended the Euroleague match between Bolzano and Dynamo Moscow, and was killed in a car accident on his way home when the Mercedes he was driving collided head on with a truck after it was believed Lefley fell asleep at the wheel. He had celebrated his 49th birthday just 10 days earlier.

Coaching results

Games Sport (Discipline) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal Nationality As
1994 Winter Olympics Ice Hockey (Ice Hockey) ITA CAN Bryan Lefley
Ice Hockey, Men (Olympic) Italy 9

Special Notes