Bob Gaudet
Induction Year: 2018
Birthday: March 19, 1959
City/Town: Saugus, MA
Entering his 22nd year as head coach at Dartmouth College, his alma mater, this fall, Gaudet is poised to become the all-time winningest coach in school history. His 305 wins at Dartmouth trail only Eddie Jeremiah (308), and he’s made the Big Green one of the most consistent teams in ECAC Hockey and the Ivy League during his tenure.
Gaudet is only the second coach to have won the ECAC Coach of the Year award at two separate programs (1994-95 at Brown, 2005-06 at Dartmouth), and he led the Big Green to the ECAC Hockey title in 2006 and the Ivy League title a year later.
In three decades as a college head coach, he has worked with and developed several players who have gone on to play in the NHL, including Ben Lovejoy of Canaan, who was a Stanley Cup champion with the Penguins. Several other former student-athletes also played in other professional leagues recently, including the KHL, AHL, ECHL and CHL.
Gaudet’s head coaching career began at age 29 during the 1988-89 season at Brown, when the team went 1-25. But consistent improvement was on the horizon, including three straight winning seasons between 1992 and ‘95, two Ivy League championships in 1991 and ‘95, and an NCAA tournament appearance in 1993.
After nine seasons at Brown (overall record of 93-142-31), Gaudet moved on to Dartmouth, a tenure that is entering its 22nd year. He was named ECAC Hockey Coach of the Year in 2005-06 after guiding the team to its first ECAC Hockey title and a 19-12-2 record.
In the last several seasons, Gaudet has reached several key milestones, earning his 200th win behind the Big Green bench in 2010-11, eclipsing the 300-career win mark in the first game of 2011-12, and reaching 800 career games coached, doing so in a 1-1 tie at Vermont in 2013-14. In 2014-15, Gaudet reached both 250 wins at Dartmouth and 350 career wins.
Entering the 2018-19 campaign, Gaudet has coached 953 games at the Division I level, a figure that ranks among the top 15 all-time in college hockey history. He ranks second all-time at Dartmouth with 305 wins, trailing only Big Green legend Eddie Jeremiah, who racked up 308 victories in 26 seasons with the program.
A native of Saugus, Mass., Gaudet starred for Dartmouth in the late 1970s. In 1979 and 1980, he led the team to Ivy League titles and appearances in the NCAA Frozen Four. As a senior, he served as co-captain and was a recipient of the Philip D. McInnis Award for spirit, loyalty and dedication to Dartmouth ice hockey.
Gaudet was first-team All-Ivy in 1978-79 and 1979-80, and was a two-time recipient of the Canterbury Society Award for the best Ivy League goalie. In 76 career games, he made a school-record 2,129 saves, while allowing 299 goals for a 4.00 career goals-against average and an .877 save percentage.