Legends to Induct Five
Jeff Giuliano in action for the LA Kings.
The New Hampshire Legends of Hockey is pleased to announce five inductees for its 2016 Hall of Fame class. Rand Pecknold, Gary Bishop and John Dodds are being inducted as coaches; Jeff Giuliano is being inducted as a player; and the late Richard R. Roy M.D is being inducted posthumously as a builder. Here is a look at the inductees:
Rand Pecknold – A native of Bedford, N.H., who played two seasons at Manchester West High School and two more at Lawrence Academy, Pecknold has made his name as one of the best college coaches in the country, leading Quinnipiac to the Division I Frozen Four in two of the past four seasons, including the national championship game this past April. A standout player at Division III Connecticut College, Pecknold recently completed his 22nd season as head coach at Quinnipiac, where he owns a career record of 446-264-83. In April, he was honored with the Spencer Penrose Award as Division I National Coach of the Year.
Gary Bishop – Only two men have coached boys high school teams to more New Hampshire Div. I championships than Bishop, who has been the coach at Bishop Guertin in Nashua since the 1991-92 season. As a player at Lowell Tech (now UMass-Lowell), he was the leading scorer on the team in three of his four years. He began coaching collegiately at Lehigh before returning to Massachusetts and starting the varsity program at Austin Prep. In 25 seasons at BG, his teams have won five Division I championships, a figure that trails only Barney Laroche (12 at Notre Dame) and current Concord coach Dunc Walsh (6). He owns a career record at BG of 342-130-13.
John Dodds – In 11 seasons as coach of the girls hockey team at Hanover High School, Dodds has built the state’s preeminent program. The Marauders have won the last seven NHIAA championships and eight of the last nine, and his record as head coach is 208-29-8. Several players have gone or, or are going on, to play Division I college hockey, including this season’s state MVP Matti Hartman, who is heading to Northeastern. A native of Philadelphia, Dodds has long been involved with youth hockey in the Upper Valley, starting with the Valley Mites of the Hanover Hockey Association in 1994.
Jeff Giuliano – A Nashua native, Giuliano went from his early years in the Nashua Youth Hockey League to the NHL, where he played 101 games for the Los Angeles Kings between 2005 and ’08. His standout career included winning stints at St. Paul’s School and Boston College, where he played a key role on BC’s national championship team in 2001 and captained the team his next year. He graduated with the third-most games played in BC history (166). He played parts of six seasons for the Manchester Monarchs in the AHL, scoring 30 goals and 88 points in 273 games, and an additional seven seasons in the KHL and in Germany.
Richard R. Roy M.D. – The late Dr. Roy grew up in Berlin, but it was the contributions he made to Rochester, where he moved in 1962, that still impact hockey in the state. He was one of the men responsible for the starting the Rochester Youth Hockey Association as a four-team league in the early 1970s, and he gave back to the community in ways that included, but were not limited to, fundraising for a new rink and inspiring others to donate their time. Roy was inducted into the Rochester Sports Hall of Fame as a contributor in 2015, seven years after the Rochester Ice Arena was renamed the Dr. Roy Ice Arena.
The Class of 2016 will be formally inducted during a luncheon ceremony at the Grappone Conference Center in Concord on Sunday, October 23, 2016. In addition, the hockey history of the Saint Anselm Hawks men’s and women’s teams will be recognized. Hall of Fame Induction tickets will be available to the general public on Sept. 1.
