Hockey alumni, donors, and friends were on hand to dedicate the locker room at the Worcester Ice Center to legendary Worcester State hockey coach John “Doc” Coughlin Sr. on Saturday, Dec. 7. Donors raised more than $50,000 to help outfit the locker room with Worcester State branding to honor the program’s first and most successful coach. The short ceremony included remarks by President Barry M. Maloney, Director of Athletics Michael Mudd, Board of Trustees member Dina Nichols, and Associate Hockey Coach John F. Coughlin Jr., who noted his late father would have turned 100 years old this year.
Under Coach Coughlin’s 15-year leadership, the Worcester State hockey team won more than 140 games, including four Eastern College Athletic Division III hockey championships between 1971 and 1977. His 1971-72 team set an NCAA record with 252 goals in only 24 games.
The WSU athletic field was also dedicated to him in 1986 and he was inducted into the Worcester State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1989.
Hockey alumni and friends gathered before the ceremony for a reception at the Compass Tavern and then enjoyed a family skate before the hockey team’s game against Fitchburg State.
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