Brian Kenneth 'Boom Boom' McCutcheon (born August 3, 1949) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played 37 games in the National Hockey League with the Detroit Red Wings between 1974 and 1976. Since 1981 he has served in a variety of coaching positions spread across many leagues, most recently as

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other Coach (sport), coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manage ...

for

Füchse Duisburg The ''Füchse Duisburg'' are a German ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hoc ...

in 2015–16.

Playing career

McCutcheon played

minor ice hockey Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from ...

in Toronto, and went to the 1962

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament (french: Tournoi international de hockey pee-wee de Québec) is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival ...

with the Toronto Shopsy's youth team. He was recruited to play at

Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

under

Ned Harkness Nevin Donald Harkness (September 19, 1919 – September 19, 2008) was an NCAA head coach of ice hockey and lacrosse at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Cornell University and of ice hockey at Union College. Harkness was also head coach of th ...

. In his junior season McCutcheon led his team in goals while the Big Red compiled the first (and thus far only) undefeated national championship in NCAA history. After graduating in 1971 McCutcheon embarked on a professional career. Despite going undrafted, McCutcheon was signed by the Detroit Red Wings. After scoring only 7 points in 45 games across three leagues in 1971-72 McCutcheon settled down with the

Virginia Wings The Virginia Wings were a professional ice hockey team based in Norfolk, Virginia of the greater Hampton Roads area. They were an affiliated farm team of the Detroit Red Wings, and a member of the American Hockey League for three seasons from 1 ...

in the mid-1970s, eventually receiving a call-up to the parent club. While McCutcheon was a capable minor league player he couldn't adjust to the NHL level, recording only 4 points in 37 games over three seasons with the Wings. He spent the entire 1977-78 season in the CHL before heading overseas to finish his playing career with

EC Graz EC Graz was an Austrian ice hockey team from Graz, Styria, playing in the Austrian Hockey League and Alpenliga in the 1990s. History The EC Graz (also called "the elephants") emerged in 1990 when the UEC Graz and ATSE Graz were merged. ATSE Gr ...

Coaching career

College

A year after hanging up his skates McCutcheon reappeared behind the bench at Elmira, a Division III program. Over six seasons with the Soaring Eagles McCutcheon saw a good amount of success, posting 5 winning records, and an appearance in the 1986 tournament. In 1987 he returned to his alma mater taking over as head coach from Lou Reycroft, becoming the second player from the

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

team to coach the Big Red ( Dick Bertrand being the first). McCutcheon was tasked with rebuilding Cornell to its former glory after having declined over the previous ten years. The initial years were good, seeing the big Red post five consecutive winning seasons and making the tournament in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Ph ...

but from 1992–93 on the team struggled and finished with three straight losing campaigns. Compounding matters, McCutcheon had become infamous for his antics and he was fired in 1995.

Professional

Despite the ending in

Ithaca Ithaca most commonly refers to: *Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey'' *Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca *Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College Ithaca, Ithaka ...

McCutcheon didn't stay idle for long, accepting a position as an assistant with the

Los Angeles Ice Dogs The Long Beach Ice Dogs were an American professional ice hockey team based in Long Beach, California at the Long Beach Sports Arena. They played until the end of the 2006–07 ECHL season. History The Ice Dogs trace their origins to the San Die ...

for the 1995–96 season. The following year he became the head coach for the

Columbus Chill The Columbus Chill were a professional ice hockey team that played in the East Coast Hockey League from October 1991 through the 1998–99 season. They played at the Ohio Expo Center Coliseum in Columbus, Ohio. The Chill left Columbus in 1999 and ...

of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

, leading the team to its first division title and receiving the

John Brophy Award The John Brophy Award goes to the ECHL coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success as voted by the coaches of each of the ECHL teams. The John Brophy Award has been awarded since 1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, ...

for his efforts. As further recognition he was promoted to the AHL and coached the Rochester Americans to consecutive Calder Cup finals. McCutcheon eventually made his way back to the NHL, becoming an assistant with the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

under

Lindy Ruff Lindy Cameron Ruff (born February 17, 1960) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach who is the head coach for the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL). Ruff was previously the head coach of the Dallas Stars of the NHL, and al ...

. McCutcheon was named as an associate in 2006 but left the team five years later when his contract was not renewed. Since leaving the NHL McCutcheon has coached several teams in Europe in varying capacities.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Head coaching record

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCutcheon, Brian 1949 births Living people ATSE Graz players Buffalo Sabres coaches Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in England Canadian ice hockey coaches Cornell Big Red men's ice hockey coaches Cornell Big Red men's ice hockey players Canadian ice hockey centres Detroit Red Wings players Fort Worth Wings players Ice hockey people from Ontario Kansas City Blues players Kansas City Red Wings players London Lions (ice hockey) players NCAA men's ice hockey national champions New Haven Nighthawks players Port Huron Wings players Sportspeople from Toronto Tidewater Wings players Undrafted National Hockey League players Virginia Wings players