The Sacred Heart Pioneers men's ice hockey team represents Sacred Heart University and competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. This program has a rich history, evolving from its amateur roots to its current status in Atlantic Hockey America.
Sacred Heart Pioneers Official Logo
Early Years and the Amateur Team (1931-1952)
The amateur team was established early in 1931 by Rev. Rodolphe Drapeau, affectionately known as the “Father of Sacred Heart Hockey”. Drapeau, with the help of parishioners, was instrumental in building an outdoor rink behind the parish school on Pleasant Street in Concord, where the Hearts would play all of their home games.
The Hearts played their first game on January 22, 1931, against the Nashua Hockey Club, securing a 3-1 victory. Names like Adams, Brochu, Colgan, Couture, Morin, Stuckey, and Rice became local legends.
The sights and sounds in those days were nothing like what’s seen today. The boards at the Pleasant Street rink were short, with fans - sometimes swelling to as many as 1,200 - lining the rink two to three rows deep, standing on snow banks just to get a glimpse of the action. By the early 1930s, the Hearts had struck up rivalries across New England and Rhode Island. They played teams from Canada, for city pride against the Millville Bruins, and also the University of New Hampshire freshman team, the St. Anselm College varsity team, and the Dartmouth College varsity team. In 1937, the Hearts defeated the UNH varsity team, 5-4.
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Winning streaks were not uncommon for Sacred Heart. In fact, the streaks were more common in the post-war years (Sacred Heart didn’t play from 1943-45 because of World War II). The Hearts won 11 in a row from January 1947 to February of 1948. They followed with 14-game winning streak from February 1949 to January of 1950. The loss to Berlin that season did little to slow down the Hearts, however. Sacred Heart went on to win its next 16 games before a showdown with the United States Olympic team on January 9, 1952, in what is known as the defining moment in team history. It was also one of the first times the slap shot was seen in the city of Concord.
Dan Stuckey worked tirelessly with Walter Brown to bring that Olympic team to Concord. The game was played on Sacred Heart’s home ice and the scuttlebutt around town was that the Olympians thought they were just going to show up and skate off with an easy win.
Sacred Heart skated with them stride-for-stride and even held a 5-3 lead through two periods - speared by a pair of goals from Red Adams in a span of 19 seconds. But the Olympians came out hard in the third period, scoring three unanswered goals and holding off the Hearts for an 8-6 victory.
The 1952 season was also the last for the Hearts, who played their last game in Lewiston, Maine on March 10 against Dedham in the quarterfinals of the AHA New England tournament. All told, Sacred Heart played 168 games. Over 20 years, Sacred Heart saw some of the best hockey players in the city of Concord don its colors.
Transition to NCAA Division I (1993-2003)
Sacred Heart began sponsoring men's ice hockey as a varsity sport in 1993. The team was placed in the South Division of ECAC North/South/Central, and because they were unable to schedule all of their ECAC South opponents twice, the Pioneers played half a conference schedule in their inaugural year.
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In the late 1990s, the MAAC was mandated to form an ice hockey conference. Two of the ECAC South programs would have to promote themselves to Division I, and soon after they were joined by Sacred Heart. With an eye for their new conference, Hannah began offering scholarships to incoming students, a violation of Division III rules, which caused the Pioneers (along with two other ECAC South teams) to be ruled ineligible for any postseason play. Despite the influx of scholarship athletes, Sacred Heart finished 7th in the first year of MAAC conference play. The team rebounded in the second year, doubling their win total and finishing with a winning record. Postseason success was a little slower in coming with the Pioneers unable to win a playoff game until year 4 of D-I play.
During the 2002-03 season Iona and Fairfield, the two original MAAC programs, both announced that they would end their sponsorship of ice hockey at the end of the season. With only one full-time member still active the MAAC terminated their ice hockey division.
Atlantic Hockey Era (2003-2024)
Sacred Heart played well for the first few years of Atlantic Hockey, reaching the championship game in 2004 and 2010, but after Hannah left in 2009, the team took a tumble down the standings. From 2011 through 2018 the Pioneers never finished higher than 8th in the conference. Bench boss C. J. Marottolo is the current head coach.
In 2020, the school announced plans to build a $60 million facility for its men's and women's ice hockey programs. Construction began on the Martire Family Arena in March 2021, with a new scheduled completion date of 2023 and a new price tag of $70 million.
Martire Family Arena - Coming 2023 | Sacred Heart University
Atlantic Hockey America (2024-Present)
Shortly after the 2023-24 season, the Atlantic Hockey Association merged with College Hockey America, a women-only league, to form the new Atlantic Hockey America. The two conferences had a longstanding relationship before the merger, having shared a commissioner and conference staff since 2010.
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Sacred Heart University Campus
All-Time Roster
The Sacred Heart All-Time roster may not be complete. Names were taken from available periodicals between 1930-31 and 1951-52.
Sacred Heart All-Time Roster:
Adams, Red
Arnold, Ingy
Audet, Al *
Audet, Henry *
Audett, Eddie
Audett, Junior
Audette, H. *
Audette, J. *
Babineau, R. *
Babineau, A. *
Babineau, Francis *
Bean, *
Bernard, B *
Berube, *
Boisvert, Wilfred *
Boisvert, Roland *
Boisvert, Leonard *
Bourgault, J. *
Brochu, Dukey
Brochu, Frank *
Brochu, Addie
Brochu, Red
Brochu, Bob *
Calhoun, John
Callahan, Lefty
Calloway, Chip
Carlson, Ed
Carlson, Berger *
Ceriello, Phonzey
Ceriello, Jim
Champagne, Pete
Champagne, Tom
Champagne, John *
Champagne, Norman *
Chandler, Gerald
Chapin, C.
Charpentier, Dave *
Colgan, Barney
Colgan, Paulie
Colgan, Pike
Colgan, Leonard *
Colgan, Louis *
Comeau, Rene *
Cote, Jake
Cote, Al *
Cote, Willard *
Couch, *
Courchene, C. *
Couture, Abie
Couture, Mo
Crowley, Edward
Daneault, Arthur *
Demers, J. *
Denoncourt, Larry
Denoncourt, Phil
Dionne, P. *
Donovan, Paul
Drolet, W. *
Drouin, P *
Drouin, Bob *
Dufresne, Albert *
Dupont, Paul *
Dupont, Marcel *
Ellis, Dwight
Flammand, Albie *
Flammand, J. *
Foster, Al
Foy, Albert *
Foy, Arthur *
Frappier, Al
Gagne, *
Gaudreau, Ernie
Gaudreault, Ray *
Gilbert, Rolando *
Gilbert, Lorenzo *
Gregoire, *
Harmon, Archer
Hart, Tom *
Healy, Tarzan
Healy, George
Hebert, John
Hilliard, Toby
Hooley, Fats
Ianuzzo, Chokey
Jacobs, *
Jeannotte, N. *
Johnson, Tootie
Johnson, Willie
Jones, Bruce *
King, Dave
King, Ernie
King, Bambie
King, Buckie
King, Dan *
King, E. *
King, Ed
King, Tom *
Labonte, Homer
Lachance, A. *
Lachance, Pat *
Laflamme, Joe
Laflamme, O’Neil *
Laflamme, Savior *
Lammare, Bill
Lamirand, Andre
Landry, Minnow
Landry, Leo *
Landry, P. *
Landry, Paul *
Landry, R. *
Lanza, *
Lapierre, Charlie
Lapierre, G.
Laplante, Dick
Laplante, Robert *
Lapoint, Pat *
Lauziere, Gene
Lauziere, Maurice *
Lauzieres, A. *
Lea, Lang
Lebell, R. *
Lebouthillier,
Lebrun, George *
Levesque, *
Lockwood, Bob *
Lyons, Frank *
Lyons, James Jr. *
Mannion, Jim *
Mannion, Dick
McIlwaine, John
Mechem, Doc
Mercier, George *
Mercier, A. *
Mercier, J. *
Mercier, Paul *
Merrill, Herb
Messier, J. *
Messier, Paul *
Meyer,
Moore, *
Morin, Art
Morin, Ed
Morin, F. *
Nadeuu, Albert *
Nault, Bruce *
Neff, C. *
Neff, Ray *
Neff, Richard *
Noel, Herve
Norton, Herb
O’Connell, Richard *
Olson, Oscar *
Otis, Donald
Ouelette, Adelard *
Patione, Lawrence *
Patione, Polo *
Paveglio, Ray
Pelletier, R. *
Phaneuf, Norman *
Phaneuf, Bernard *
Philbrick, Duck *
Pillsbury,
Planchet, August *
Plourde, Eddie
Preston, Percey
Purdy, Dave *
Racine, Arthur
Racine, Chuck
Reardon, Bolt
Rerdon, J.
Rice, Ted
Rice, Teddie *
Rice, Bill
Rich, *
Roy, Art
Roy, Johnny
Roy, R. *
Roy, Tom *
Roy, Leon *
Ryerson, Dick
Samales, Edward *
Scappettuolo, Frankie
Schumaker,
Silva, Frank
Smith,
Soucy, A. *
Stevenson, Charlie
Stohrer, Jim
Strachan, Buddy
Stuckey, Dan
Tardif, Lionel *
Tetreau, Ernie *
Thereault, *
Thomas, Windsor
Turgeon, L. *
Tuttle, *
Valliere, Ziz
Valliere, Nix
Vallieres, E. *
Vallieres, A. *
Vallieres, H. *
Venne, R.