Boston Herald

Holy Cross’ Van Buskirk calls it a career

- BY JOHN CONNOLLY

One of the great people in college hockey will hang up the clipboard and whistle Friday night when Holy Cross coach Peter Van Buskirk steps behind the bench for the final time in a fabulous 34-year career, during which he coached the Crusaders men’s and women’s programs at separate times. Holy Cross hosts Providence that night.

“You go back and wonder if it was work or play,” the affable Van Buskirk said.

Van Buskirk, 76, a former player under coach Rube Bjorkman at the University of New Hampshire, played in the very first game at the late “Lively Snively” Arena in 1965. He began coaching at Hudson High School, where he guided the Hawks to five Central Mass. titles and the 1978 Div. 1 state championsh­ip. Van Buskirk moved to Holy Cross to coach the men’s program from 1979-1988 and 1996-977, compiling a 167-146-8 record.

For the past 19 years, the energetic Van Buskirk has led the HC women to a record of 295-174-33. This season, the Crusaders (1-28-3, 1-24-1) faced a difficult task after moving to Div. 1 and Hockey East. A highlight was a 5-3 upset of newly crowned HE regular-season champ Northeaste­rn.

“It’s time,” Van Buskirk said. “I’ve been very fortunate to stay at one place all these years. I’ve been fortunate, too, to coach both the men’s and women’s at different times. That wasn’t done much during my time. It’s going to be an easy transition for me. If you’re going to retire then you have to put it on the shelf and do something else.”

A succession plan already is in place with highly regarded former Boston University assistant Katie Lachapelle assuming the reins for next season.

“This year was unique as we made the move to Hockey East. I knew it would be a challenge to make that jump, but I have great assistant coaches in Katie Lachapelle and Maddie Norton. Katie will do a terrific job,” Van Buskirk said. “I’m so proud of the kids, They did a great job on a day-to-day basis. They had a great attitude. It was just that sometimes the games were a few minutes too long, if you know what I mean. It takes time. This isn’t fast food. We actually got better on the defensive side.”

Quiz of the week

Who holds the Vermont record for career saves? Answer below.

Classy move

A nice bit of sportsmans­hip was evident at 14:14 of the second period in Northeaste­rn’s 2-1 win against Vermont on Saturday after Catamounts goalie Stefanos Lekkas robbed Huskies winger Liam Pecararo of Canton. The senior paused at the whistle to compliment Lekkas on the save. The goalie responded with a playful tap of the goal stick to the seat of Pecararo’s pants.

Lekkas, who ranks sixth in NCAA save percentage (.930), made 24 stops to pass Tom Draper (2,806 from 198387) and move into fourth on the program’s career saves list.

Tip o’ the fedora

Franklin Pierce sophomore Nicole Amato of Billerica had back-to-back four-point games with a total of five goals and three assists. Teammates Haley Parker (two goals, three assists) and Marissa Massaro (goal, three assists) also had big outings. …

Other big games this week: Merrimack’s Katelyn Rae (two goals, four assists), Fitchburg State’s Nick DiNicola (two goals, three assists), Curry’s Billy Vizzo (hat trick, assist) and Kasper Kjellkvist (four assists), UMass-Dartmouth’s Steve Leonard (goal, three assists) and Eric Bolden (goal, three assists). …

Western New England’s Kyle Carducci (52 saves) was the difference in a 4-3 win against Endicott.

Quiz answer

Former Bruins goalie Tim Thomas made 3,950 from 1993-97 at Vermont.

Drop the puck!

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