Leo Gould
Induction Year: 2006
Birthday: April 3, 1942
City/Town: Sackville, NB Canada
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.