What is the cost of admission to the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in Eveleth, Minn.? For you and me, $8. For Mount St. Charles Academy coach Bill Belisle, 990 victories, 32 state championships, 20-plus players drafted by NHL teams and two Mounties picked first overall in the NHL Draft.
Belisle, having more victories and more consecutive state championships (28) than any coach in U.S. hockey history, will be inducted into the Hall of Fame with former American star Craig Janney and the 1996 World Cup of Hockey championship team. The date and location will be announced later this month.
In 1975 Belisle took over a program that had won eight games the season before. He doubled the victory total in 1976, finished second in the state in 1977 and won the first of 28 consecutive state championships, a national record, in 1978. His teams were ranked No. 1 in the nation from 1980 through 1989. In 1983 center Brian Lawton became the first American-born player chosen first in the NHL Early Entry Draft. Defenseman Bryan Berard was the first choice in 1995. One of Belisle’s players, defenseman Mathieu Schneider, was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2015.
Belisle joins fellow Rhode Islanders Dick Rondeau, former Al-America at Dartmouth; Ralph Warburton, former U.S. Olympian; Joe Cavanagh, former Harvard All-America; Lou Lamoriello, Hockey East founder and New Jersey Devils president, and Sara DeCosta Hayes, as a member of the 1998 Olympic gold medal-winning team, in the Hall of Fame.
Belisle, 86, will begin his 42nd season behind the bench in November. His overall record is a gaudy 990-183-37, a winning percentage of 81.8. His record at Adelard Arena on the Mount St. Charles campus in Woonsocket is even more impressive: 545-65-17 (86.9). But you will never hear him boast about his longevity or records or championships. You won’t even hear him speak. He lets his son Dave do the talking. Dave played for his dad and has coached beside him for years. He deserves a share of this recognition.
Bill grew up in the Manville section of Lincoln and played for Mount St. Charles in the 1940s. He helped the Mounties win the 1947 state title and graduated in 1948. He is a member of the Mount St. Charles and the National Federation of State High Schools Associations Halls of Fame.
