Meet the Globe’s all-time All-Scholastic hockey teams
Since 1962, we’ve recognized the best of this region’s high school players, boys and girls, public and private, secular and spiritual
For as long as Americans have played hockey, they have excelled at it in New England. The Boston Globe has covered it all, sharing news of turn-of-the-century amateur teams and a “schoolboy hockey” league that was thriving as early as 1905, and the debut of the Boston Bruins a century ago this past December. So it was a long time coming when, in 1962, the Globe’s high school sports staff first selected a team of boys’ hockey All-Scholastics to honor the most outstanding players in Eastern Massachusetts. In the 62 years since, the Globe has recognized the best players on high school teams, boys and girls, public and private, secular and spiritual, all over Massachusetts and New England. Some of these players have become Hockey Hall of Famers, Stanley Cup champions, and Olympic gold medalists. Some are household names in the sport. For decades, the Globe has chronicled the first major strides of some legendary careers.
What follows is the cream of this region’s crop: the Globe’s All-Time All-Scholastic hockey teams.
How the teams were selected
For the boys, we combed through six decades of yearbook-style All-Scholastic hockey pages to come up with several dozen candidates.
We narrowed the list to first and second teams based on college and professional résumés. Choosing teams on post-scholastic achievement leveled the playing field.
We sought additional input from prominent former players, longtime coaches, and observers across multiple generations.
In addition to the best of public high school hockey in Massachusetts, players from the region’s prep and private schools are well represented on our teams. This is particularly evident in girls’ hockey, where prep schools have long carried the play around here, funding teams long before this resource-intensive game made it to public school budgets.
The Globe first selected a girls’ hockey All-Scholastic team in 1997, a year before women were granted a place on the Olympic hockey stage in Nagano. There were a dozen public-school teams in Massachusetts at the time.
Since the mid ’80s, prep-league MVPs have been recognized as All-Scholastics.
We also named one player recognized by the Globe in our past regional editions — New Hampshire, in this case — because she was that good.
The first teams consist of three forwards, two defenders, and a goalie. To have a representative sample of talent, the second teams contain the best of the rest, regardless of position.
First team: Boys
This would be an incomplete squad without Needham forward Robbie Ftorek (Class of 1970). Ftorek, with apology to Norwood’s Richie Hebner, was the first superstar of Massachusetts high school hockey. Fans came from miles around to see him play, selling out Boston Garden for the state final in 1970.
Ftorek was the first three-time Globe All-Scholastic and smashed the state scoring mark (118 points in 23 games, plus 28 points in four state tourney games). His post-scholastic résumé, however, is also why he merits a spot on the team.
Despite his size (5 feet 9 inches, 150 pounds), Ftorek used quickness and intense dedication to become a superstar scorer in the WHA, putting up 523 points in 373 games. In 1977, he won the league’s Gordie Howe Trophy, becoming the first American to win a professional hockey MVP award. He also spent eight years in the NHL, including a 73-point season as captain of the Quebec Nordiques (1980-81). After retiring, he was a coach for more than three decades, including stints leading the Kings, Devils, and Bruins.
The mid ’70s produced Randolph defenseman Rod Langway (’75). Scouted by colleges as a quarterback, Langway played football and hockey at New Hampshire. He won a Stanley Cup with the Canadiens as a rookie in 1979, then became a two-time Norris Trophy winner and six-time AllStar with the Capitals, whom he served as captain for 11 seasons. The “Secretary of Defense” made the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2002.
He’ll make a fine combo with Boston Latin defenseman Jack O’Callahan (’75), a “tough, bespectacled” blue-liner from Charlestown, according to his All-Scholastic page. He played 389 games in the NHL, mostly with the Blackhawks, after winning a Miracle on Ice gold medal in 1980.
The next great player from a Massachusetts high school was St. John’s Prep forward Bobby Carpenter (’81). The Peabody product was labeled “The Can’t Miss Kid” on a
Sports Illustrated cover, and he didn’t. Drafted third overall (Capitals, 1981), he became the first American to score 50 goals in a season and won a Stanley Cup with New Jersey in 1995. He played 1,178 games over 18 seasons (320408—728), then won two more Cups as a Devils assistant (2000, ’03).
The goaltender on our team comes with a similar profile. Acton-Boxboro goalie Tom Barrasso (’83) finished his final exams and reported to the Sabres, winning the 1984 Calder and Vezina Trophies a few months after turning 19. He won two Stanley Cups with the Penguins (’91, ’92) and landed in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2023.
The third forward spot for the all-time team was tough, but we can’t overlook Thayer Academy forward Jeremy Roenick (’88).
Roenick, a three-time Independent School League MVP (1986, ’87, ’88), twice led the league in scoring on his way to 218 career points (100 goals, 118 assists). He was drafted eighth overall out of Thayer in 1988 and debuted with the Blackhawks as an 18-year-old that fall. His 20-year career left him ranked in the top 50 in goals (513) and points (1,216) — one of the most impressive résumés of any player not in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
It adds up to a five-man fantasy unit that would play tough, intelligent hockey. Ftorek’s speed and flash would fit well with Carpenter, a 200-foot center who could do it all in the offensive zone. Roenick, a true game-breaker, would command enough attention to leave his linemates wide open. Not many chances headed the other way, either, with Langway at the peak of his powers and O’Callahan filling in the gaps. And we have a money goalie in Barrasso.
Second team: Boys
Roenick’s prep and pro linemate, Thayer forward Tony Amonte (’89), was one of the most dangerous NHL wingers of the 1990s. He scored 30 goals eight times for the Rangers and Blackhawks and hit the 40 mark three times. He finished with 416 goals and 900 points in 1,174 games.
His center on the team is Nobles’s Kevin Hayes (’10).
The well-rounded 6-5 pivot from Dorchester distributes the puck and seems to be getting better with age, producing a career-high 36 assists and 54 points for the Flyers last year at age 30. Hayes, a national champion at Boston College (2012), has had a solid 10-year NHL career to date (415 points in 709 games as of April 1).
The defensive conscience on the line is Austin Prep forward Tom Fitzgerald (’86), a key contributor to the Panthers’ surprise run to the 1996 Stanley Cup Final. He was the first captain of the Predators (1998-2002) and currently serves as New Jersey’s general manager.
Another local who had a solid career, Catholic Memorial forward Ted Donato (’86), was an NCAA champion (1989) and captain at Harvard (’91) and has coached his alma mater for the last 20 years. After playing in the 1992 Olympics, he carved out a 796-game NHL career in which he reached 50 points twice with the Bruins. Donato, the first American to lead the Bruins in goals (25 in 1997), was one of 100 players named to the Bruins’ All-Century team.
Smooth-skating St. Mark’s defenseman Greg Brown
(’86), a two-time Hockey East Player of the Year (1989, ’90) and All-American at BC, later earned a spot on the Hockey East All-Decade team (’94) and in BC’s Hall of Fame (2004). He didn’t have a long NHL career (94 games) but was among the best college defenders of his era. He succeeded Jerry York as the Eagles coach in 2022.
Needham goalie Robert “Cap” Raeder (’72) was an AllAmerican at New Hampshire in 1974, and had a brief but sparkling pro career, leading the WHA’s New England Whalers on a deep playoff run in 1976. He beat the USSR in an exhibition game that December. Raeder, a 1986 UNH Hall of Famer, was later an assistant coach with the Kings, Lightning, and Sharks.
But what about . . .
For the love of frozen rubber, this was a difficult list to cull.
Remember, players had to be named Globe All-Scholastics to qualify. A player with a borderline case for the Hockey Hall of Fame, Keith Tkachuk, was just below the AllScholastic cut line while starring at Malden Catholic. He made the second team in both 1989 and ’90. Another famous local, Winthrop’s Mike Eruzione, was a second-teamer in ’72. Kevin Stevens (Silver Lake) was a league all-star (’82, ’83) but not an All-Scholastic.
The Globe began recognizing prep league MVPs as AllScholastics beginning in 1986 (Greg Brown was the first). Among prep school stars, All-Scholastic super team honors eluded Bruins center Charlie Coyle (who starred in Weymouth’s Super 8 run as a freshman before transferring to Thayer); Cory Schneider and Chris Kreider (Phillips Andover); Mark Fusco, Scott Fusco, and Matt Grzelcyk (Belmont Hill); “Ironman” Keith Yandle (Cushing Academy); Noah Hanifin (St. Sebastian’s); Bill Guerin (Wilbraham & Monson); and Scott Young (St. Mark’s).
In the early ’70s, future NHL fixture Mike O’Connell left Braintree’s Archbishop Williams for Canadian juniors before he could be selected by the Globe. Left out for similar reasons: US Hockey Hall of Famer Larry Pleau, who was an Essex County League all-star as an underclassman at Lynn English in 1963 before playing juniors in Montreal. Mike Milbury, a scrappy defenseman at Walpole High, did not make the All-Scholastic cut.
Jack Eichel attended Chelmsford High but played for the Junior Bruins and later the US National Team Development Program (other program products include Grzelcyk and Hingham’s Matty Beniers). The trend of “The Program” snatching the best high school talent from the Bay State continues, with likely 2024 NHL first-round draft pick Cole Eiserman (Newburyport) among the latest star defectors.
Old-timers shouted for Melrose’s Paul Hurley — he was the area’s premier blue-liner in the early ’60s — but he played just one game in the NHL (for the Bruins, in March 1969). The aforementioned Hebner would have been in Bobby Orr’s rookie class had he taken the Bruins’ contract offer, but he went into baseball stardom, as did Billerica’s Tom Glavine (the Globe’s 1984 Player of the Year).
Those with long memories noted the feats of Paul O’Neil, who starred at Malden Catholic in the early ’70s; fellow stars of that time such as Mike Fidler and George Hughes (Malden Catholic) and Bob Sunderland (Braintree); and others who had memorable NHL careers, such as Bob Sweeney (Acton-Boxboro), Bob Miller (Billerica), Shawn McEachern (Matignon), John Carter (Woburn), Andy Brickley (Melrose), Mike Sullivan (BC High), Jay Pandolfo (Burlington), Jay Miller (Natick), and Joe Sacco (Medford).
First team: Girls
This first line is as good as any ever written on a Team USA lineup sheet.
Choate forward Hilary Knight (’07), in the conversation for greatest American player ever, was a two-time NEPSAC MVP while spending her teenage years in Hanover, N.H. She is the career scoring leader (101 points) at the Women’s World Championships, a Team USA fixture, and a driving force in women’s hockey on and off the ice. The 2023 IIHF Women’s Player of the Year is captain of PWHL Boston.
Knight and her longtime Team USA linemate, Berkshire forward Kendall Coyne Schofield (’11), will fill the net. Coyne made a fast impression here, coming from Chicagoland and collecting 55 goals and 22 assists in 25 NEPSAC games. She then set the career points record at Northeastern (251, since broken by Alina Müller) and became a star for Team USA, winning six golds and three silvers at the Women’s Worlds and three Olympic medals (gold in 2018, silver in 2014 and 2022). She broke barriers by finishing seventh of eight competitors at the 2019 NHL All-Star Skills fastest skater competition.
Hard to think of a better center for that duo than Governor’s forward Alex Carpenter (’11), arguably the best female high school player in Massachusetts history. The North Reading native put up 239 goals and 427 points in just 100 games (her school won four ISL titles; she was twice named league MVP). She was the state’s all-time leading scorer, boys or girls. She pulled off a similar feat at Boston College, finishing with a dual-gender school-record 133 goals, 145 assists, and 278 points.
The back line boasts outstanding international credentials. Concord (N.H.) defender Tara Mounsey (’96), the first and only girl to be named Globe New Hampshire Player of the Year, led her boys’ team to an undefeated season and state title as a senior. Among the top offensive blue-liners of her era, the former Brown star won Olympic gold (1998) and silver (2002), earning a spot on the All-World team both years.
Her defense partner is Berkshire’s Kacey Bellamy (’05), a top player at UNH (third all time in points by a defender). She didn’t hog the spotlight for Team USA but was a bedrock of some of the most successful teams (Olympic gold in 2018; silver medals in ’10 and ’14). She was a tough, physical, durable blue-liner who elevated those with whom she played.
No worries in net here, with BB&N goalie Katie Burt (’13) shutting it down. She started her career at Lynn English as a sixth-grader who got a waiver because of team injuries. She played as a middle-schooler and transferred to BB&N for ninth grade. She later backstopped BC to three Frozen Fours and became the winningest netminder in NCAA history (121-13-10), finishing her college days among the career leaders in every major goaltending category. After a brief pro career with the Boston Pride, she is an assistant at Providence.
Second team: Girls
Part of the original Golden Girls squad in Nagano, Lawrence Academy’s Laurie Baker (’95) was a quick, intelligent forward who scored 75 goals in two seasons at Providence. The Concord native is assistant athletic director at Concord Academy.
Hotchkiss forward Gina Kingsbury (’00), who hails from Saskatchewan, was the NEPSAC MVP in 2000 and shined at St. Lawrence. She won two Olympic gold medals for Canada (2006, ‘10) and in recent years has managed Team Canada and PWHL Toronto.
Before injuries derailed her career, Nobles forward Sarah Parsons (’05) was one of the best American players of her era. The Dover native won Olympic bronze in 2006 at 17.
Diminutive, scrappy Cushing forward Erika Lawler (’05) of Fitchburg won three national titles at Wisconsin before capturing Olympic silver with Team USA in 2010. She later played for the CWHL’s Boston Blades and NWHL’s Metropolitan Riveters.
The heart of women’s hockey in Boston, Rivers forward Jillian Dempsey (’09) was a captain at Harvard and for the NWHL/PHF’s Boston Pride, where the Winthrop product became the defunct league’s all-time leading scorer (146 points in 142 games). She continues to play her hard-working game for PWHL Montreal.
Some of these players have become Hockey Hall of Famers, Stanley Cup champions, and Olympic gold medalists. Some are household names in the sport.
The only Massachusetts public school player on this list, Burlington forward Kelly Browne (’15) later transferred to Tabor Academy and won an ISL MVP award in 2018.
She was the first three-year captain at BC, male or female, and won gold at the Under-18 Women’s World Junior Championships in 2018.
But what about . . .
Danvers native Meghan Duggan starred at Cushing Academy, but she was not a league MVP (the school plays an independent schedule). The 2018 US Olympic captain remains one of the most decorated players from here. She is the Devils’ director of player development.
Pioneering forward Cindy Curley, of Stow, captained the women’s national team from 1989 (a year before the first IIHF Women’s World Championships) to 1996. Curley, who played for the Assabet Valley club and attended Nashoba Regional High, still holds the American record for points in an international tournament (23) and in a single game (9). Both of those records were set at the 1990 Women’s Worlds. Curley was inducted to the US Hockey Hall of Fame and Providence College Hall of Fame in 2013.
Former Team USA star Katie King Crowley would have been an obvious choice for this team, but Salem (N.H.) High didn’t even have a boys’ team until after she graduated. The three-time Olympian played club hockey while winning Globe New Hampshire All-Scholastic honors from 1991-93 in softball and field hockey.
Her 1998 teammate in Nagano, Sandra Whyte (Saugus), was a 1987 Globe All-Scholastic in field hockey, but she didn’t have ice-bound options at school. Three-time Olympian Tricia Dunn, a forward from Derry, N.H., was a top player for the United States from 1996-2006, but not an All-Scholastic.
Angela Ruggiero, who grew up in Harrison, Mich., and attended Choate, was a NEPSAC all-star in hockey and track in 1996 and 1997, but not an All-Scholastic. Another would-be slam-dunk pick, four-time Olympian Julie Chu (Choate), was a NEPSAC all-star in 1998 and ’99, but she did not make the All-Scholastic super team. Same goes for A.J. Mleczko of Nantucket, who dominated at the Taft School.
League all-stars who weren’t All-Scholastics include two-time Olympian Courtney Kennedy, of Woburn, who was an ISL all-star at BB&N in 1995 and 1997; fellow Olympians Helen Resor, of Westwood and Nobles, and
New Haven’s Caitlin Cahow (Hotchkiss), who were prep league all-stars in 2002; and Brandy Fisher, the first winner of the Patty Kazmaier Award (top NCAA player) at New Hampshire in 1998, who was an ISL all-star at Governor’s.
All-Scholastics also considered were Amanda Conway (Methuen), Becca Gilmore (Nobles via Wayland), and Deb Spillane (Franklin).
In closing
We aren’t naming a coaching staff, but the braintrust could include Don “Toot” Cahoon (Marblehead ’67), Dick Umile (Melrose ’67), US Hockey Hall of Famer Ben “Punky” Smith (Gloucester ’64), and Nadine Muzerall (Kimball Union ’97), who recently led Ohio State to the NCAA women’s title.
We also can hold orderly scrimmages thanks to Steve Dowling (Hingham ’64), an NHL referee in the 1970s who also appeared in stripes in “Slap Shot” and all three “Mighty Ducks” movies.
Unfortunately, we can’t include Acton’s Steve Carell as a backup goalie. He was not a Globe All-Scholastic, though he was an Eberhart Division league all-star in 1980 as the netminder for the Middlesex School. He went on to play club hockey at Denison University, long before settling into an “Office” job.