Hall of Fame Members

Impressive. That, in a word, best describes Russ Martin. He was a leader of men, a civic-minded citizen and an outstanding hockey player and coach.

It all started at the University of New Hampshire where Russ excelled on the ice, playing three years of varsity hockey. As a captain his senior year (1937-38), he scored 39 points for a 4.2 points-per-game average. Although records weren’t then kept, it undoubtedly is UNH’s highest single-season total ever.

He holds the University record for goals-per-game average with 1.45 and has a share of the record for the most points in a game with 10. Russ also posted 45 goals and 30 assists in 31 games, which is a 2.4 points-per-game average. That is the best mark in school history.

After graduation, he played three seasons for the Boston Olympics, based at Boston Garden.

Martin, in 1959, settled in Concord and that winter with high energy and enthusiasm led a revival of ice hockey in the Capital City, forming the Concord Youth Hockey program. He heavily emphasized hockey fundamentals and sportsmanship.

In 1963, Russ joined hands with Dudley W. Orr and Malcolm McLane and with their leadership, vision and dedication it led to the design and ultimate construction of the Douglas N. Everett Arena in Concord. The facility was dedicated December 7, 1965.

As the Arena’s operations evolved, Russ led its volunteer Board of Directors, serving as President of Concord Ice Skating Arena, Inc. His tenure continued through the year the City of Concord purchased the Arena.

Russ also was involved with the operations of three Capital City senior teams: the Concord Shamrocks, the Concord Coachmen, and the Eastern Olympics.

High School hockey in Concord existed between the 1933-34 and 1951-52 seasons but thereafter was shelved. Prior to the 1961-62 season, Russ, as a member of the school board, persuaded City officials to restore hockey as a varsity sport. Since then, Concord has had seven championship teams.

Russ never lost his love of the sport and for 20 years was a top-notch official, blowing the whistle at many college, prep and high school games. He also served a term as President of the New Hampshire Official’s Association.

In 1986, Russ was inducted into the UNH Hall of Fame for football. He also was a recipient of the Carl Lundholm Memorial award for distinguished service to NH youth in athletics. During World War II, he saw combat with the 10th Mountain Division in the Italian Alps.

Russell F. “Russ” Martin – Class of 2007

Please welcome Rusty Martin, accepting for his late father.

The all-time leading scorer in Phillips Exeter Academy history, Russ Bartlett used his success at the school as a springboard to Division I college success at Boston University and St. Lawrence, and was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs.

A native of Windham, Bartlett played 116 games over four years at Exeter, finishing with 102 goals and 173 assists for 275 points. The program’s second all-time leading scorer – Geoff Koch, a three-year linemate of Bartlett’s who went on to play at Michigan – finished with 177 points.

After managing 44 points as a freshman, Bartlett led the Big Red in scoring as a sophomore (70 points), junior (71 points) and senior (90 points). His teams combined for a record of 80-23-3 in those years and went to the New England tournament three times.

Said Dana Barbin, Bartlett’s coach at Exeter and (Legends Hall of Famer ’10) “Not known for his blinding speed, he still managed to set every offensive record at P.E.A. with his Gretzky-like game. I said it then and I’ll say it now, I’ll never again coach such a prolific point producer!” His signature game came during his junior year, when he scored five goals against the No. 1 team in the region, Cushing Academy, and future NHL great Tom Poti.

“The recruiters said, ‘Whoa,’ and that’s when things really started breaking,” said Barbin.

Bartlett played two seasons at BU, scoring 20 goals and 51 points, beating Boston College with an overtime goal in the Beanpot as a sophomore.

He transferred to St. Lawrence for his final two years, managing 22 goals and 65 points. Serving as an Alternate Captain as a senior, he helped the Saints win the ECAC Hockey title and play in the NCAA tournament.

Bartlett finished his college career with 42 goals and 116 points in 144 games.

An eighth-round draft pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs (194th overall) in the 1997 NHL draft, Bartlett played one season of professional hockey with the ECHL’s Richmond Renegades in 2002-03, managing seven goals and 24 points in 62 games.

Ronald played organized hockey in Windsor and Richmond, Quebec, he played Junior A hockey for the Richmond Flyers who were affiliated with the Quebec Aces of the American League. In 1963 they won the Eastern Township Cup and were invited to play in the finals in the Provincial championship series.

In 1964, Ronald was invited to a tryout by the Boston Bruins organization.

In 1965, Ron came to Manchester where he played for the Manchester Blackhawks from 1965 to 1970, the Manchester Monarchs from 1970 to 1975, the Concord Budmen from 1975 to 1978.

His team won two New England Hockey League championships and Ron was selected to the All Star team that played at Lake Placid, New York.

Throughout his playing career he has participated in numerous hockey games in support of various local charities.

For many years Ron has devoted a great amount of time in support of the Manchester Youth Regional Hockey Association teams as a referee and coach.

At this time, Ron is still active as a player in several “old timers bracket” hockey teams.

No doubt, Ron Peters is the only man in the room today who has safely guided 747 jets onto Logan Airport runways and then, after getting off work, hightailed it to a rink to make line changes while coaching a hockey game. Ron, for 37 years as an air traffic controller, worked first in Boston and later in southern New Hampshire. That move north was our good fortune and it was in Nashua he became revered as the local “Father of Hockey.”

His robust hockey life started long before he came to New Hampshire, though-back in the late 1930s, on Jamaica Pond outside of Boston. At first, he was a skater, a grade-schooler then, who later put on the pads and became a standout high school District League goaltender.

Ron, in 1963, arrived in Nashua via a job transfer and with his vast experience immediately immersed himself in hockey. His player resume included practice goaltender for the Boston Olympics (Eastern Hockey League); goaltender Boston Barons; stalwart in the Newspaper League whose players all worked at Boston dailies (Post, Herald, Globe); a regular in the Mayflower Hockey League; and starter for the Wetzell Hockey Club of Braintree. Also, he and a few friends in 1958 had inaugurated the first youth hockey program in Brockton, MA. So, he was well prepared to give southern New Hampshire hockey a needed boost.

First, he became coach of the Nashua Royals in the Granite State Hockey League and won the 1964 league championship. He later served as GSHL president. When he met Adrien Labrie, a local general contractor, they conspired to raise funds and build the Nashua Garden rink.

Ron organized the first youth hockey program in Nashua, calling it the Greater Nashua Youth Hockey Association. The program was open to all hockey players, no matter which town they were from. He had lots of help from other lovers of the game in this creation. Ron became the first GNYHA president and served more than 10 years. It is estimated that more than 6000 youngsters benefited from the program.

Ron also formed the Twin State Youth Hockey League and coached mite level through junior teams. Some of his other duties included setting schedules, hiring officials, keeping records and statistics, selling ice time and driving the Zamboni. He even became a news correspondent, writing youth hockey and NEHL game stories for the Nashua Telegraph.

Later, he formed the Nashua Maple Leafs, an entry in the New England Hockey League, and became general manager and eventual coach of the team. When the Nashua Garden was forced to close its doors and the Maple Leafs were disbanded, Ron was hired to coach the Manchester Monarchs.

As time wore on, Ron became a certified AHA referee and joined with Paul Fischer, George Marineau and Brother John Paul, as prime movers in inaugurating the Nashua High School and Bishop Guertin High School hockey programs. Marineau became the first hockey coach for Nashua HS. Brother John Paul became Bishop Guertin’s first head coach.

Ron Peters – Class of 2008.

For 12 years, Ron DeGregorio’s leadership helped USA Hockey evolve into one of the world’s most respected hockey federations.

A resident of Salem for the past three decades, DeGregorio has been involved with the sport for more than 40 years as a player, coach and administrator, whose work and forward-thinking has resulted in notable improvements to the success, popularity and safety of hockey in the United States.

DeGregorio’s first appointment with USA Hockey came in 1973 when he was named registrar for the New England District, where he oversaw the reorganization of the district into several smaller, more manageable affiliates.

DeGregorio was first elected to the USA Hockey board of directors in 1975 and was the organization’s first vice president of youth hockey. In the 1980s, he served as treasurer of USA Hockey.

He has represented the U.S. at countless events during his tenure with USA Hockey. His first official role came as team leader of Team East at the 1979 U.S. Olympic Festival, from which the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” Olympic hockey team was chosen.

DeGregorio also served as team leader for the 1994 U.S. Olympic hockey team that competed in Lillehammer, Norway. DeGregorio has represented the USA at the 1998, 2002, ’06, ’10 and ’14 Olympic Winter Games and at numerous International Ice Hockey Federation championships.

He was elected president of USA Hockey on June 14, 2003, and unanimously re-elected to his fourth term on June 10, 2012. He stepped down from the position in June.

He was one of the architects of USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program, a two-year residency program for the top 16- and 17-year-old players in the United States. The program has greatly influenced U.S. success in international competition.

In January 2009, the organization launched the American Development Model, which, for the first time ever, provided associations nationwide with a blueprint for optimal athlete development. USA Hockey furthered the enhancement of those efforts by advancing the USA Hockey SafeSport Program in June 2012.

The former Boston Latin and Middlebury College goaltender is also known throughout the region as the originator of “Mini One-on-One,” a youth hockey competition that is broadcast through the Boston Bruins’ television network.

Attended Notre Dame High School from 1953 to 1957 and was a key figure on the hockey team that won four state championships in each of his four years. In DeDe’s senior year at Notre Dame, he scored 60 goals and had 40 assists, very significant when one considers that high schools only played up to 26 games a year including tournaments. That same year, 1957, Notre Dame High School won the New England High School Championship held at Providence, R.I.. He was selected to be on the all tournament team and voted the tournaments Most Valuable Player. Note: Massachusetts high schools were part of the tournament back then. DeDe was a member of the famed Berlin Maroons (AHAUS) hockey team from 1957 to 1972. In those fifteen years he scored 336 goals. DeDe was voted the Most Valuable Player in the 1972 AHAUS Senior Open Tournament. Walter Brown, owner of the NHL Boston Bruins invited him to a tryout for the Bruins, but had to decline due to prior commitments. DeDe was a member of the Berlin Maroons when they won two AHAUS (Amateur Hockey Association of the United States) National Championships in 1967 and 1968.

Nicknamed the “Bird”, Roland grew up in Berlin and played three seasons for Notre Dame High School. He captained the 1961-62 team that captured the New Hampshire State Championship and then represented our state in the New England Schoolboy Hockey Tournament in Providence, R.I, where he was recruited by the Boston Bruins.

He attended the Bruins’ training camp in the fall of 1963, traveling to Niagara Falls, Ontario and Victoriaville, Quebec.

He played two stints for the Berlin Maroons, the first from 1962-63 through 1965-66 and the second from 1967-68 through 1971-72.

From 1965 through 1967, he served in Vietnam in the U.S. Army Military Police.

In 1967-68, the Maroons captured both the Senior A.H.A. New England and A.H.A National titles and he was a 1st Team All-Star selection in the tournament.

Always a top scorer, he led the Maroons in production in the 1968-69 season. He had 20 goals, 24 assists for 44 points. In the 1969-70 season, he again led the Maroons with 31 points on 13 goals and 18 assists. In the 1970-71 season, he scored a career high 55 points on 21 goals and 34 assists.

Roger Letourneau moved to Berlin as a teenager and went on to have a standout career as a high-scoring forward for the Berlin Maroons, Concord Eastern Olympics and Concord Budmen in the 1960s and ‘70s.

A native of the province of Quebec, Letourneau enrolled at Berlin High School as a junior in the fall of 1965 and made an immediate impact once he was cleared to play on the school’s hockey team the following February.  He played in a total of 12 games, including the state tournament (won by BHS) and the New England tourney at the Boston Garden. In those 12 games, he scored 14 goals and added five assists for 19 points, and was selected the MVP of the state tourney.

As a senior in 1966-67, he scored 42 goals and managed 74 points for a Berlin team that went 20-5, and won the state and New England tournaments.
He was the MVP of the New England tourney, tallying both goals in a 2-1 win over Rhode Island champion Cranston East, and
scoring the tying goal and playing the final 10 minutes in a 3-2 win over Maine champion St. Dominic in the final.

After playing part of a season in New Prep in Cambridge, Mass., Letourneau returned to Berlin and joined the Berlin Maroons for the latter half of the 1967-68 season. In 16 games, including playoffs, he had 34 goals and 12 assists, and the team won the National AHA Senior Championship.

He would play for the Maroons for four seasons. In those years he totaled 117 goals and 76 assists for a total of 193 points.

In the spring of 1970, Letourneau was invited, along with teammates Carl Langlais and Roland Lavigne, to participate on a USA Senior All-Star team that played against the U.S. Olympic Team in a weekend tourney in Lake Placid, N.Y.  A year later, he was invited to attend the training camp of the Boston Braves and, in 1972, he earned an invitation to training camp with the Hartford Whalers.

Letourneau continued playing amateur hockey, for the Eastern Olympics starting in 1971-72 until the New England Hockey League was disbanded. He played in 136 games for the team, scoring 112 goals and adding 96 assists for 208 total points, good for ninth place on the all-time list of the Olympics’ scorers.

When the Olympics folded, he played for the Concord Budmen in its inaugural season of 1975-76 season. In September of 1976, he returned to Quebec, making his home first in Lennoxville and later Sherbrooke.

• Played high school hockey at Notre Dame High School.
• Played both wing and defense during his high school career.
• Selected as a captain of his high school team during his junior and senior seasons.
• Began sports career at the University of New Hampshire in 1955.
• During his sophomore season, UNH coach Pepper Martin referred to Roger’s line as the “LeClerc Line.” The line also featured Albert Brodeur.
• Was killed in an auto accident on December 22, 1958.
• The Roger A. LeClerc Award is annually given to the UNH player who exemplifies Roger’s competitive spirit, ability, good fellowship and sportsmanship.

Rod Ross never played hockey — opting for football, basketball and baseball while attending Berlin High School — but his love for the sport would help shape a 43-year career in radio broadcasting, most notably for Berlin High School and Notre Dame teams, and the Berlin Maroons on WBRL.

Born in Everett, Massachusetts, and raised in Berlin, Ross was a sports enthusiast. He graduated from Berlin High School and went on to Plymouth State College, where he fell in love with theater, a passion that would encompass his life as both an actor and a director. He worked on dozens of productions through the years and has influenced hundreds of people in both school and community theater performances.

His radio career was born while he was home for the summer one year from Plymouth State, helping out his father, Charley, a radio announcer in town. Ross began at WBRL in 1964 and, over 43 years, estimated he broadcast nearly 2,000 games.

“There are two reasons why Rod was an exceptional broadcaster,” said his brother, Rusty Ross. “First, the way he would broadcast games and second, the preparation and enthusiasm he brought to the game. He obviously knew the players on the Berlin teams (and) he took the time to learn the players on the opposing team. So, it was a professional, balanced broadcast and he certainly conveyed the excitement of the game to the listeners.”

After one of his first times on the job, he asked his father what he thought of the way he was reading the news. “It was good,” said Charley, who passed away in 1962 from lung cancer at the age of 46, “but don’t read it like you’re performing Shakespeare.”

In his early years of broadcasting hockey, there were only four high school teams in New Hampshire — Concord,  Hanover, and rivals Berlin High School and Notre Dame High School. That presented a challenge to Ross, a Berlin High grad since Notre Dame was on top of the rivalry in those years. He admits that he might have shown a bias for Berlin only because the Notre Dame team was so dominant.

His radio career also found him broadcasting the Berlin Maroons games, a favorite team of the North Country.  He would also broadcast a few University of New Hampshire games.

Ross moved to The Villages in Florida in 2003 with his wife, Debbie, where he is the official spokesperson for the Red Sox Nation Club at The Villages. He has interviewed such notables as Rico Petrocelli, Pedro Martinez and Luis Tiant. He has also become a personal friend of Claudia Williams, the daughter of baseball great Ted Williams.

Ross credits his father for giving him the best advice for sports broadcasting: “You have to remember that the people listening can’t see what you are seeing. It is not good enough just to describe what’s happening. You have to paint a picture for them.”

A Berlin, New Hampshire Native, Rod Blackburn became the University of New Hampshire’s first ever all-American in 1961.

His goaltending career began at Notre Dame High School, perennial New Hampshire schoolboy champions in the 1950’s. In 1957, Blackburn helped guide Notre Dame beyond the state title to its first New England schoolboy championship.

As a freshman at U.N.H. in 1957-58, he averaged 60 saves per game on the freshman team, and in one contest against Boston University, he stopped 102 shots as his team lost 8-0. This noteworthy performance attracted national media attention and was reported in “Faces in the Crowd” section of Sports Illustrated’s March 1958 issue, dedicated to superb feats by athletes all over the world.  As U.N.H. team captain in 1961, Rod averaged 42 saves per game and was considered by many U.S. College Coaches as the best goaltender in college hockey, east or west. He was a post season selection to the All-New England, All-East and finally to the NCAA First Team All-American Team.

Blackburn made the transition to Senior Hockey with the Berlin Maroons Hockey Club, finalist at the 1961 and 1962 National AHA tournaments. At each of these tournaments, he was selected tournament Most Valuable Player.

Following commissioned service in the U.S. Marine Corps, Rod played with the St. Paul Steers of the U.S. Hockey League in 1965. In 1966 he was selected and played as a member of the U.S. National Hockey Team for the World Tournament in Ljubljana, Yugoslavia and again in 1967 for the world Tournament in Vienna, Austria.

In 1983, Rod was inducted into the U.N.H. Athletic Hall of Fame.

• Graduate of Berlin High School, class of 1943.
• U.S. Air Corp veteran with service in World War II.
• Coach and mentor for the City of Concord Youth Hockey at the Whites Park outdoor rink in 1964.
• Served as coach, and general manager for the Concord Shamrocks in 1964-65. The adult league Shamrocks set the stage for the Concord Coachmen and an indoor arena in Concord.
• Served as a member of the Board of Directors at the newly built Douglas N. Everett Arena and began association with the Coachmen in 1966-67.
• Helped bring high school hockey to Bishop Brady High School in 1967.
• Director of player personnel and general manager for the Concord Eastern Olympics of the New England Hockey League from 1967 to 1974.
• Talent scout with the Boston Bruins from 1967 to 1974.
• Active in senior hockey with the Concord Budmen, organizing charity events and coaching from 1975-76 to 1990.
• Known as “Mr. Hockey in Concord.”