Locals among honorees for Rhode Island Hockey Hall of Fame’s ‘Class of 2019’
PROVIDENCE — The names and official portraits of the Rhode Island Hockey Hall of Fame’s “Class of 2019” were unveiled between periods of Friday’s gamed between the Providence Bruins and Bridgeport Sound Tigers at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.
Among the local inductees-elect are Mount St. Charles icon, Brother Adelard Beaudet, Woonsocket and MSC’s Brian Boucher, Burrillville’s Tom Eccleston and Malcolm Greene Chace of Central Falls, the “father” of ice hockey in the United States.
The Enshrinement Celebration and Dinner will be held on Friday, Sept. 6, at the Twin River Event Center in Lincoln.
This year’s 10 inductees include players, executives, educators and coaches, many of whom played pivotal roles in the growth and continuing popularity of the game in Rhode Island.
The inductees were elected from a list of 30 nominees culled from a pool of over 175 qualified candidates, which the Hall has diligently researched and profiled over the past two and a half years.
“Several members of this new class had the credentials to be in the Hall’s 16-member charter class, which was inducted in September 2018,” noted Vin Cimini, chairman of the R.I. Hockey Hall of Fame.
“This is a diverse group that spans the entire history of the game in Rhode Island, from Malcolm Greene Chace, who brought ice hockey here from Canada in the 1890s, to Brian Boucher, a first-round draft pick who analyzes NHL games for a national TV audience.”
The class is highlighted by the election of the three ‘fathers’ of the game here in Rhode Island: Malcolm Greene Chace of Central Falls, father of collegiate play in the USA; Brother Adelard Beaudet of Mount St. Charles, father of our interscholastic game; and Johnston sports entrepreneur, Judge James E. Dooley, founder of the Providence Reds, our first professional team.
The Hall of Fame Selection Committee comprises nine qualified and highly respected individuals – sports and hockey historians, broadcast journalists and sports executives – each carefully chosen for their expertise, local hockey knowledge, integrity, objectivity and impartiality.
A closer look at the local entrants:
BROTHER ADELARD BEAUDET, S.C.
A founder and coach of the iconic Mount St. Charles Academy team, Brother Adelard helped organize and nurture high school hockey in Rhode Island after emigrating from Quebec in 1911.
MALCOLM GREENE CHACE
A world class tennis and ice polo player in the 1890s, Chace eventually switched to ice hockey and introduced and promoted the game in New England and the Northeast.
BRIAN BOUCHER
Selected in the first round of NHL Draft in 1995 by the Philadelphia Flyers, the Woonsocket native and former Mount St. Charles goalie played 13 seasons in the NHL. He holds the league record with five straight shut- outs and 332 consecutive scoreless minutes during the 2003-04 season.
TOM ECCLESTON
Regarded as one of the game’s great teachers and motivators in Rhode Island, Eccleston won multiple state championships as the coach at Burrillville High School. He coached for eight seasons at Providence College and led the Friars to their first ECAC title and the NCAA final four in 1964.