Hall of Fame Members

Malcolm Kenneth Gordon

The ultimate recognition of your contributions to the hockey world is to have a rink named in your honor and to be elected to the US Hockey Hall of Fame.

Malcolm Kenneth Gordon, who lived to be 96, achieved both honors.

Gordon’s name is on a rink at St. Paul’s School in Concord, hung there posthumously in 1966. His induction into the US Hockey Hall of Fame happened in 1973.

In each case, he was honored as a visionary, an organizer, a guiding influence in hockey’s early development and as an outstanding athlete-all major contributions to the sport.

His connection to St. Paul-s School began in 1882 when he arrived as a young student. He graduated in 1887 as ice hockey in the US was becoming a refined, streamlined game with specific rules, moving quickly toward becoming the modern game we all now know so well.

Although the 11-man game of shinny is known to have been played at SPS in the early 1870s, it wasn’t until the afternoon of November 17, 1883, out on SPS’s Lower School Pond, that the first old style game of hockey was played in the USA. More than a decade later, in 1895-generally acknowledged to be The Year- the modern game was established, and Malcolm Gordon was right there in the middle of it all, making much of the evolution possible. While still a student, he was an enthusiastic admirer of the game. In 1889 he became the SPS hockey coach and his career spanned 28 years. During that time, he brought Canadian rules to campus, massaged them judiciously, and created the basis for what became American rules.

As a coach with the ear of the alumni, he bucked the tide that was already running towards athletic specialization. He encouraged diversity in accomplishment rather than specialization. This led to his creation in 1892 of The Gordon Challenge Medal, now the school’s highest athletic award.

Among his many players was the legendary Hobey Baker, who played at SPS in 1905-1909 and later achieved great fame as an athlete at Princeton University.

Coach Gordon left St. Paul’s School in 1917, entered World War I and founded the Malcolm Gordon School in Garrison, NY. Originally, Gordon Rink on the SPS campus stood as a single facility, completed in 1966. The current hockey center, completed in 1998, has two ice surfaces. Gordon Rink was renovated and Ingalls Rink was added. Malcolm Gordon, indeed, left an indelible mark on the game.

Malcolm Kenneth Gordon – Class of 2008.

Please welcome David Gordon, accepting for his grandfather, the late Malcolm Kenneth Gordon.

Leonard ‘Red’ Brochu

He had enough. After pinning one player under his knee, taking another off his back and throwing a third over the boards, the 6-foot-2, 250-pounder glided over to the Montreal Police bench and in so many words told them if they didn’t clean it up, the game wouldn’t continue and they could settle their issues off the ice.

After he removed his officiating shirt, that is. One of eight children, Red Brochu learned his English in the basement of the Sacred Heart Church in Concord, where he attended Concord High School in 1946. Red skated for the hockey team through his senior year in 1950, playing an influential role in guiding the Crimson Tide to the semifinals as a senior, where it fell to Berlin, 2-1, in double overtime.

Red continued his career, playing for Sacred Heart in the team’s final year of existence. He moved on to play for the Shamrocks, who played at White Park, in the 60s. It was during this time that he also helped assist Concord High Coach Paul Dupont in 1961.

Red’s brother, Robert Brochu, was the superintendent of the construction company that built Everett Arena.

Red was also a part of starting the Concord Youth Hockey Association. Red and John Healy were amongst a group that helped founder Russ Martin start the youth hockey program in 1959-60. And it was at this time that Red began officiating.

Sometimes four to five games a day, Red officiated youth hockey games on weekends, donating his time and energy to the game he loved. In the evenings he would officiate high school, college or senior games.

Known to always carry two pairs of skates with him, so he’d always have a dry pair, Red officiated somewhere between 90 to 120 high school, college and senior games per year.

Red also officiated league games for the Eastern Olympics, Blackhawks, Maroons and Budmen. It was during one of these games that he had his run-in with the Montreal Police, who were in town for a game against the Eastern Olympics.

After a third back surgery in 1979, Red retired from coaching. And when Charlie Holt was re-writing the collegiate hockey officiating book he called upon Red for his input.

Red returned to coaching during the 70s, following the birth of this son, Len, in 1966. He coached Len from clinic all the way through peewees. Bishop Brady Coach Bud Luckern coached Len for one year before retiring, thus handing over the reins to Red, who took over the helm and coached Bishop Brady from 1981-86.

Red passed away in June of 2007 at the age of 73 while he building a stone wall for his business, Brochu Nurseries. He did get a chance to see most of his grandchildren play hockey; Ryan, DJ and Greg Proulx, and Hannah and Lenny Brochu III. His youngest grandsons William and Henry Brochu were only one year old when he passed away.

One of his greatest joys was watching how his love of hockey transferred down to his children and grandchildren.

Leo W. Vaillancourt

Leo Vaillancourt grew up during the time when the young sport of ice hockey was growing rapidly in Berlin. In 1920 the local paper mill organized a company hockey league, and nearly a dozen social clubs sponsored their own teams. Leo played for the Joliette Hockey Club in the mid-1930s. After high school graduation, Vaillancourt played for the Berlin Hockey Club that became the Berlin Maroons in January 1937. Leo was part of the high scoring “Kid Line” with Hall of Famer Barney LaRoche as his teammate. Soon the Berlin Maroons became a powerhouse winning the 1941 New England AHA Championship with Vaillancourt scoring seven goals in that tournament.

Leo then served in the European Campaign of WWII from 1942 to 1945.

The Maroons resumed playing in 1946/47. In 1947/48, Vaillancourt led them to another New England title as their team captain. The Maroons won a third NE Title in 1949 with Vaillancourt scoring 48 goals and 23 assists that season. Leo was selected to the 1949 New England AHA All-Star Team. He was top scorer the following year with 74 points. In 1951, Captain Vaillancourt led the Maroons to another NE title.

In the 1953/54 season, Leo gave up the uniform and became Coach Vaillancourt. The Maroons became the dominant amateur hockey team in New England winning the National AHA Championship.

Including and following his playing years, Leo Vaillancourt became a member of the National Athletic Amateur Association (NAAA) and the National Intercollegiate Hockey Official Association from 1950 to 1975. In addition, he was a member of the NAAA Evaluation Committee.

Leo J. Gould

Born and raised north of the border, Leo came to the United States in 1960. Not surprisingly, he brought his skates.

From 1960 through 1964, Leo played with the Fitchburg Aces and the Fort Devens’ team. He worked tirelessly to upgrade the latter program.

By 1964, he was playing for the Manchester Alpine in the Granite State Hockey League and in 1965-66 joined the Nashua Royals, winning the G.S.H.L Championship. That team was led by later-to-be Montreal Canadien Bobby Sheehan.

Leo joined with three friends in 1966 to work on opening a rink in Nashua. A year later, Leo was playing for the Manchester Blackhawks and journeyed to Fitchburg MA where he founded and played for the Fitchburg Royals through 1971.

Leo, in 1970 was hired to assist in the final development and management of the Wallace Civic Center in Fitchburg. He oversaw the final stages of construction of the dual-rink venue and guided it through successful operation for seven years.

Never one to sit still, Leo started the Wallace Wallopers (1972-79) in the New England Junior Hockey League. This team featured many Division I and professional players such as NH’s own Lee Blossom (Boston College), Phil Bourque (Penguins), Mathieu Snider (Red Wings), Bobby Williams (Bruins), and Jim Campbell (Canadiens) to name a few.

From 1972-77 he hosted the Boston Bruins training camp at Wallace Civic Center, the first time an NHL team held a training camp in the United States.

Leo attended NHL Referee School in Haliburton, Ontario in 1973 and in 1977 he and his son, Mike, refereed a Boston Bruins vs NY Rangers pre-season game.

In 1982, Leo along with Ron Gosselin founded the Manchester Jr. Canadiens, coached by Don Awrey.

In 1994, Leo took over the Tyngsboro-Nashua Huskies Junior Hockey Team, a New Hampshire not-for-profit corporation in the New England Junior League. He is currently President of the New England Junior Huskies. He was instrumental in the development of Junior Hockey in America and continues his dedication to hockey through team ownership and as a Scout for the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec Major Junior League.

In 2002, Leo was inducted into the Lakes Region Hockey Hall of Fame.

Twenty-eight years of competitive ice time adds up to a lot of worn skate laces and hundreds of games played on a long list of rinks. For Lee, you also could add in that the pucks from all of the goals he scored over that time might easily fill a dump truck.

Lee came up through the Concord Youth Hockey Association-Mites through Bantams-first stepping onto the ice at age 5. By the time he was a Squirt, he showed his natural knack for puck control and scoring. Always a forward, he enrolled at St. Paul’s School for grade 7, later playing three seasons of varsity hockey, always among the school’s top scorers.

Just prior to his senior year, he transferred to Concord High School (class of 1977) and in that one season led CHS to its first State hockey title, defeating Bishop Guertin, 3-2. In the semi-final round versus Manchester Memorial, Lee scored five goals in the 5-2 win. He ended that season as the State’s top schoolboy scorer: 35G – 32A – 67P. He also, that school year, captained hockey, golf and baseball.

After graduation, he went to the Oshawa Generals’ (Ontario Hockey League) training camp and was assigned to play with the Newmarket Flyers. The lone American on that team, he finished 5th in scoring.

Returning home for the 1978-79 season, he played for the Fitchburg (MA) Wallopers in the New England Junior Hockey League, leading the league in scoring with a record-setting 115 points. He was named MVP. The Wallopers then won the NEJHL title and Lee was named tourney MVP and also a member of the All Tourney 1st team.

Then came Boston College, where for his four varsity seasons (1979-80 through 1982-83), he was a major scoring force. As a freshman, he finished 2nd in the 1980 ECAC Rookie of the Year balloting. As a junior, he led the team in goals scored, finishing 2nd in total points. As a senior, he was team captain and again led the team in goals scored, ranking 2nd in total points. He also played in four Beanpot Tournament finals, winning the championship his senior year. His varsity production of 58G – 60A – 118P in 111 games earned him a place in BC’s prestigious 100-point Club. He graduated in 1983 with a bachelor of arts in economics.

After graduation, he attended the Pittsburgh Penguins’ training camp and was assigned to the Nashville (TN) South Stars of the East Coast Hockey League. Later that season, he was with the Virginia Lancers and by season’s end had played in 69 games, scoring 61G – 47A – 108P.

In 1984, he again attended the Penguins’ training camp and returned to the Virginia Lancers’ lineup. After 46 games, he was moved over to the International Hockey League to play with the Toledo (OH) Goaldiggers. His season’s production in 71 games was 65G – 64A – 129P.

In 1985, he began the season with the Goaldiggers but at the trading deadline in March of ’86 was sent to the IHL’s Fort Wayne (IN) Komets. It was a three-for-one swap, with Lee being the One player in the transaction! Fort Wayne, with him in the lineup, definitely got the best of the deal and eventually won the IHL title, thanks to his sharp scoring skills. The team, though, lost in the Turner Cup finals. In 72 games that season (with both teams), Lee had 33G – 33A – 66P.

At the start of the 1986-87 season, Lee again was on the Fort Wayne roster but later was offered a contract to play in Finland. He decided to retire as a pro and he returned to Concord.

For the next five seasons (1987-88 through 1991-92), he regularly suited-up with the Concord Budmen, continuing to produce game winning goals and assists, fashioning a lot of memories for teammates and for the many who watched him play. He also has filled his hockey time as assistant hockey coach at Plymouth State College (1987-89); as a color broadcaster for Channel 12-Concord H S (1989-94); and currently serves as a member of the BC Hockey Booster Club (Pike’s Peak Club).

Today, he resides in Boston’s North End and is national sales director for Consumers Medical Resource of Pembroke, MA.

A Manchester native, Lauren Slebodnick staked her claim as one of the best goalies in Cornell women’s hockey history, as well as one of the best netminders to come out of New Hampshire.

Slebodnick grew up in Manchester and played youth hockey for the Manchester Youth Hockey Association, the NH Junior Bruins, the NH Wildcats and NH Top Gun, before graduating to the East Coast Wizards and Cushing Academy.

At Cushing, which she attended from 2006 until 2010, she collected a number of awards and was recruited by Cornell, one of the top programs in Division 1 women’s hockey.

In her first two years at Cornell she shared the goalie duties, playing 16 and 17 games, respectively, and posting save percentages of .942 and .924. Both seasons the Big Red reached the Frozen Four, losing in the national semifinals in those years to Boston College and Minnesota, respectively.

As a junior, she set the program’s single-season record for wins (24) and helped the Big Red reach the eight-team NCAA tournament, something the team achieved all four years she was there. In both her junior and senior seasons Cornell dropped one-goal contests to Mercyhurst in the tournament quarterfinals.

She received a number of individual honors. As a junior, she was named to the All-ECAC Hockey third team and the All-Ivy League second team. As a senior, she earned Ivy League honorable mention honors. She was also a two-time selection to the ECAC All-Academic team.

Slebodnick also represented her country in international play, playing on the U-18 Women’s National Team in 2009 and the U-22 Women’s National Team in 2013. She was an alternate for the U.S. Women’s Team that competed in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

From 2008-13 she was invited to attend the Warren Strelow National Goaltending Camp overseen by USA Hockey.

After Cornell, she played two seasons professionally with the Boston Pride of the National Women’s Hockey League, including the league’s inaugural season in 2015-16. She helped the Pride win the Isobel Cup during that first season.

She serves as the head goaltending coach for the new Division 3 women’s program at Western New England University, and served as the assistant director of women’s development for Puckstoppers Goaltending in Exeter.

She has also served as the head goaltending coach for the East Coast Wizards and Boston Shamrocks.

• Played 11 professional seasons in Europe with teams from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Scotland.
• Top scorer on MRYHA traveling teams and the mite, squirt and pee wee levels.
• Attended Manchester Memorial High School from 1981 to 1983. Led the team in scoring during his junior season.
• A hat trick vs. Berlin in the state semi-finals put Memorial High School into the 1983 state finals.
• Attended Lawrence Academy in 1984 and 1985. Led his team in scoring both seasons.
• Honored as an All-League player during both seasons at Lawrence Academy.
• Attended the University of Vermont from 1986 to 1989. Led the Catamounts in scoring during three of his four collegiate seasons.
• Named team MVP twice during his collegiate career.
• Ranks fourth on the Vermont all-time scoring list.
• Earned All-ECAC honors in 1988 and 1989.
• Honored as an All-American in 1989.
• Played 11 professional seasons in Europe with teams from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Scotland.
• Currently an assistant coach at St. A’s.

Kent Carlson’s career took an upward track from his starring role as a defenseman on Concord High School’s 1977 and 1979 state championship teams to his selection as an ECAC 2nd Team All-Star in 1983 and on to his 113 game NHL stint with the Montreal Canadians, St. Louis Blues, and Washington Capitols. He also stared at New Hampton Prep and St. Lawrence College. Kent also the fist American born player to captain the Montreal Canadians top farm club the Sherbrooke Beavers guiding them to the AHL’ S Calder Cup in the 1984-85 season. Carlson overcame serious injuries to his arm and back, undergoing spinal fusion surgery in 1986, before returning to professional hockey for three more productive years. Carlson is one of New Hampshire’s greatest athletes as voted by Sports Illustrated.

Born in Toronto, Ken will long be remembered for becoming the first Canadian recruited to play for the UNH Hockey team. His UNH career was from 1958 to 1962. He captained the Wildcats his senior season and still holds the UNH record for goals in a game with 6. He served as the President of the Wildcat Athletics Council from 2001-2003.

New Hampshire has been Ken’s home since college. He taught and coached at Concord High for two years.

Ken was the founder and president of the Granite State Hockey League. He played forward for the Concord Shamrocks, Concord Coachmen, and the Eastern Olympics. He later played in the Capital City Hockey League for 12 years. Ken still competes in the Laconia Legends of Hockey League.

Ken is also highly regarded for his officiating. He became a member of the National Ice Hockey Officials Association in 1962 and he wore the stripes until he retired in 1991. He officiated nine NH High School State Championships, two NCAA Division II Championships, several other ECAC Tournaments and the Beanpot Tournament.

Ken is a member of the UNH Hall of Fame, the Capital City Hockey League Hall of Fame and the Lakes Region Legends Hall of Fame.

Ken Cail’s boyhood dream was to own the voice coming out of the radio, calling the play-by-play. As far back as his grade-school days, he envisioned himself describing the action and often called the play-by-play while his friends competed at driveway basketball and backyard Wiffle ball.

His radio work life now has grown to be 38 years long, and for 35 of those years his sonorous sound and rich descriptions of the action have reached countless hockey, baseball and basketball fans.

His career ceased being a fantasy in 1970, at age 16, when he wrote a letter that quickly put him in the radio booth, although not behind the mic. Before he sat down to write that evening, he earlier had been at the old Boston Garden watching the then-Boston Braves of the AHL. Looking up into the radio booth, he noticed that legendary play-by-play man, Bob Wilson, had only a technician with him. Wilson, then heard live over WBZ-AM, was the unmistakable Voice of the Boston Bruins as well as the Boston Braves. Ken suspected that night, and rightly so, that Wilson didn’t have a statistician beside him. So, he wrote and offered his services.

“That was on a Saturday night,” Ken recalls. “On Monday, after school, I was out in the yard. My dad called me in. ‘Bob Wilson is on the phone,’” he said.

And so the dream began. That very next Friday, teenager Ken became Bob Wilson’s Boston Braves statistician-albeit for no pay.

By 1971, Ken’s not yet a senior at Melrose High School (Class of 1972)-had moved in beside Wilson as his statistician for Boston Bruins games. That same year, Ken also began a seven-season gig as public-address announcer for the then-Manchester Yankees, later to be the New Haven Yankees. The team then was the Eastern League Double-A affiliate of the NY Yankees.

Wilson, impressed with Ken’s innate skills and confidence, later assisted with the segue that in 1973 put Ken into the WBZ studio as a producer for Calling All Sports host Guy Mainella, as well New England Patriots broadcaster Gil Santos, and talk show giant, Jerry Williams.

Ken, meanwhile, enrolled at Leland Powers School of Radio Broadcasting in Boston, and in 1975 first went on air doing WBZ fill-in sportscasts while the World Series raged in Boston.

When Jerry Williams, in 1976, went off to WTIC in Hartford, Ken went south with him. One year later, though, Ken was back in New Hampshire, this time in Manchester at WGIR-AM doing, among other things, The Evening Talk Show. He became a nine-year on-air fixture. During that period, he also began doing hockey play-by-play for local high school games.

In 1986, he moved over to WFEA-AM/WZID-FM in Manchester, doing regular news broadcasts as well as regular play-by-play of high school hockey games.

Beginning in 1998 and lasting up through the end of the 2007 season, Ken also was the public address announcer, on-air broadcaster and public relations man for the Nashua Pride baseball team, which originally played in the Atlantic League and later the Can-Am League.

Then the Manchester Monarchs came to town. And in 2001, fans began hearing Ken’s voice at first over WGIR-AM and later over WGAM-AM. Today, he still is The Voice of the Monarchs, and for nine seasons hasn’t missed a single broadcast, which, including playoffs, totals more than 800 consecutive games. Also, in 2008, Ken became The Voice of the Lowell Spinners, the Single-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.

Ken, today across a calendar year, combines four radio jobs: his June-to-September broadcasting of 76 Spinners games, his Octoberto- April broadcasting of 80 Monarchs games; his radio play-by-play of Southern New Hampshire University basketball games; and his five-day-a-week broadcast of the Morning Talk Show with co-host Peter St. James on WTPL-FM in Concord.

Ken lives in Manchester. He has two daughters: Amanda and Melissa.

In Katie King’s athletic life, her major accomplishments came in threes: three-time hockey Olympian (1998, 2002, 2006), three medals won (Gold ’98, Silver ’02, Bronze ’06) and three consecutive years as Ivy League Hockey Player of the Year (Brown University ’95, ’96, ’97.)

Her penchant for living her athletic life in threes started back at Salem (NH) High School where she graduated in 1993 as a three-sport varsity athlete, excelling in softball, basketball and field hockey. If there had been an ice-hockey program back in her SHS days, there’s no telling how many school and State records she might still hold today.

That doesn’t mean Katie came to hockey late in life, though. She was at it early on, playing against her brothers before moving onto an organized boys’ youth hockey team.

When she enrolled at Brown University in the fall of 1993, she was a seasoned veteran. Among her numerous awards for her outstanding collegiate play was the Eastern College Athletic Conference Player of the Year for the 1996-97 season. Overall, in her collegiate career, she played 206 games and scored 206 points (123 G/83 A.) How’s that for consistency and dependability?

Among her international hockey achievements are: six-time member of the US World Championship team (’97, ’99, ’00, ’01, ’04, ’06); recipient of the Bob Allen Women’s Player of the Year at the annual USA Hockey Congress in Colorado Springs; scored a hat trick in the 4-0 win over Finland (’06) to capture the Bronze medal; tied in Team USA’s overall scoring at the ’98 Olympics; ranked third in scoring (’01) for the US Women’s National Team with 57 points (29 G/28 A) in 39 games.

Currently, she ranks second in the history of women’s ice hockey in America with 265 points (146 G/119 A) in 210 games.

Before announcing her retirement, Katie led the 2006 Olympic Team in scoring.

She is co-author of a book called Gold Medal Ice Hockey for Women and Girls.

Currently, she is an Assistant Hockey Coach at Boston College.

And just for the record, she compiled a 44-0 record as a softball pitcher at Salem High School and had six perfect games, leading SHS to four Class L titles. She also captained the field hockey and basketball teams.

Katie King – Class of 2007

Please welcome Katie King

Growing up in Londonderry with four brothers and sisters, the rule in Kathleen Twomey’s home was that the kids could play on no more than one travel team a year.

So when she wasn’t on a travel hockey squad, which was always her first choice, Twomey played every sport she could at Trinity High School in Manchester, enjoying plenty of success. She won state championships in soccer and basketball, and also ran track and cross-country.

It wasn’t until she arrived at St. Anselm College that she turned all her attention to hockey. By the time she wrapped up her four-year career there, she held school records for goals (75) and points (124).

“Going from playing five sports in high school to just focusing on hockey was when I grew the most,” she said.

She had high hopes for her college career, but to graduate as the program’s all-time scoring leader wasn’t something she was sure she’d ever accomplish.

“I think everyone dreams of that,” she said, “but I didn’t even know how much playing time I’d get. I spent a lot of time practicing by myself.”

Twomey put on a pair of skates for the first time at the age of 2, joining her older brothers in the family’s backyard rink. She played youth hockey with the Manchester Regional Youth Hockey Association, Manchester Flames, Chelmsford (Mass.) Lions and the Hooksett-based Lady Monarchs. When she was in middle school, her Chelmsford team won a national championship.

After scoring 24 goals and 33 points in 27 games as a freshman, she had her most productive year as a sophomore, putting up 25-17-42 totals as the Hawks won the ECAC Open championship; in the title game against Sacred Heart she scored two goals and set up another in a 6-3 win. “One reason I loved hockey so much at St. A’s was that the girls I played with were awesome,” she said. “We played so hard and had a great time.” Twomey was named ECAC East Rookie of the Year and second-team All-Conference as a freshman in 2005-06, and ECAC East Player of the Year the next season.

Twomey counts Lenny Rowe, who coached her with the Chelmsford Lions, and former St. Anselm coach Dave Flint as her biggest influences. As a high school senior, she was named MVP of the annual Make-A-Wish game pitting the best girls from New Hampshire against those from Vermont.

After college Twomey got into coaching herself, serving as co-coach for the Trinity/Bishop Brady girls club team for a season and the Hudson-based Northern Lady Cyclones for another two.