Punsky Resigns, Deraney Returns as Worcester State Men's Ice Hockey Coach

Worcester, MA – The Worcester State Athletic Department has announced the resignation of Men's Ice Hockey Head Coach Jay Punsky, effective immediately.

Punsky, a four-year member of the Lancers' coaching staff and the program's head coach for the past two seasons, will return to his alma mater, Salve Regina University, where he has been named their full-time Head Coach for the 2025-26 season.

"We thank Jay for his strong contribution to our hockey program as both an Assistant Coach and Head Coach over the past four seasons" says Athletic Director Michael Mudd. "He represented our hockey team in a first-class manner, leading a team that faced some significant adversity off the ice recently.  Having an opportunity to coach your alma mater is unique and I have no doubt Jay will do a tremendous job getting the Salve Regina hockey program back to a high level of success."

Since taking over the program in 2023, Punsky has guided the Lancers to back-to-back MASCAC Quarterfinal appearances and has been instrumental in cultivating a competitive, high-character culture both on and off the ice. His teams have maintained a collective 3.6 GPA, while four graduating players have gone on to sign professional contracts during his tenure.

With Punsky's departure, Mudd and the Worcester State Athletics Department are excited to announce the return of Bob Deraney as the Head Coach of the Lancers Men's Ice Hockey team. "Bob had a terrific run here as our Men's Head Coach a short time ago.  We are fortunate to have such an experienced coach heading up our hockey program moving forward" shared Mudd. "Bob does an incredible job developing young men to reach their potential both on and off the ice." 

Deraney returns to the Lancers bench after two years with the Worcester Railers of the ECHL. 

He initially took over the reins of the Lancers program for the 2021-22 season after coaching nearly 30 years at the collegiate level, most notably for 19 seasons as the head women's coach at Providence College. In his previous tenure at Worcester State, Deraney was named the 2022-23 MASCAC Coach of the year after leading the Lancers to a record setting 10-win conference record and a trip to the MASCAC Championship.  While at Providence he led the Friars to four championships, one ECAC Eastern League Championship and three Hockey East Championships, and was a three-time Hockey East Coach of the Year. Upon leaving Providence in 2018, he was the all-time winningest coach in both Hockey East and Providence College history.

"I want to thank Athletic Director Michael Mudd for giving me this wonderful opportunity to come back to Worcester State, be a part of his terrific athletic department and work alongside a lot of very talented coaches and administrators. I missed it! Worcester State has a wonderful community and I want to contribute to it any way I can" says Deraney. "Lastly, but most importantly I look forward to working with the tremendous young men that make up the Worcester State Men's Hockey program. They are the main reason I chose to come back. To have the opportunity to work with them every day and together strive towards taking this program to new heights every day is what I look forward to the most. I'm excited to get to work!"

Before his time at Providence, Deraney served as an assistant coach for a trio of Division I men's ice hockey programs, UMass Amherst, Dartmouth College, and Northeastern University. In each role, he worked primarily with the defensemen and goaltenders, and was also heavily involved with video analysis and recruiting.

Deraney has worked extensively with USA Hockey working as a scout and as a player development coach for both the women's national team and men's junior team, and won gold medals as an assistant coach of the women's Under-18 World Championships in 2008 and the Women's National Team at the World Championships in 2015.

Other recent coaching stops for Deraney include the South African Men's National Team, KRS Vanke Rays of the Canadian Women's Hockey League, and the Kunlun Red Star of the Kontinental Hockey League, the top professional league in Russia.

Prior to his coaching career, Deraney played four years of Division I hockey at Boston University, graduating in 1987. Deraney and the Terriers won two Beanpots, one Hockey East Championship and made two NCAA Tournament appearances in his four years.

Worcester State will begin its 2025-26 campaign on October 31 at the WooCup Tournament, hosted this year by Assumption University.