Gary Wright is an American retired

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 hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

coach. Wright served as head coach of

Rice Memorial High School Rice Memorial High School is a coeducational Roman Catholic secondary and college preparatory school in South Burlington, Vermont. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington. The student body is mostly drawn from Northern and Centra ...

from 1976 to 1979, an assistant coach at

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

from 1979 to 1984, and as the head coach of American International from 1984 through 2016. After the retirement of Jack Parker in

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

Wright became the longest-tenured coach in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

along with

Red Berenson Gordon Arthur "Red, The Red Baron" Berenson (born December 8, 1939) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre and head coach of the Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey team from 1984 to 2017. Berenson was inducted into Canada's Sports ...

Career

Gary Wright got his start in college hockey at

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

after graduating from

Proctor Academy Proctor Academy is a coeducational, independent preparatory boarding school for grades 9–12 located on in Andover, New Hampshire. There are about 370 students. History Origin Proctor Academy first began as Andover Academy, established in 18 ...

in 1972. After his sophomore season the Catamounts made the move to Division I, giving Wright two valuable years of playing experience at the top level under Jim Cross. Wright's playing career ended upon his graduation in 1976 and he quickly moved into the coaching ranks, becoming the

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 coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

for Rice Memorial in his hometown of

Burlington Burlington may refer to: Places Canada Geography * Burlington, Newfoundland and Labrador * Burlington, Nova Scotia * Burlington, Ontario, the most populous city with the name "Burlington" * Burlington, Prince Edward Island * Burlington Bay, no ...

. Wright got the team to a second-place finish in his second season but after the third he left to become an assistant for

. At the time of his arrival, Maine had just jumped up to the D-I ranks, joining

ECAC Hockey ECAC Hockey is one of the six conferences that compete in NCAA Division I ice hockey. The conference used to be affiliated with the Eastern College Athletic Conference, a consortium of over 300 colleges in the eastern United States. This relati ...

in 1979–80. The Black Bears managed just one winning season over the next five years under Jack Semler as they grew accustomed to the stiffer competition but, as Semler was being replaced by

Shawn Walsh William Shawn Walsh (June 21, 1955 – September 26, 2001) was the head ice hockey coach for the University of Maine Black Bears. Career Walsh was a third-string goalie for Bowling Green State University. As a sophomore, he decided to concentrate ...

after 1983–84, Wright got the opportunity to become the head coach at American International. Wright took over in AIC's final season as a Division II as the level was dissolving, forcing the Yellow Jackets to drop down to

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

the following year. The program joined

ECAC East New England Hockey Conference (formerly the ECAC East) is a college athletic conference which operates in the northeastern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division III as a hockey-only conference. __TOC__ History The New England Ho ...

that same year and began to build a respectable reputation that would carry them into the mid-1990s. Despite a sharp decline after 1994, AIC was willing to sign on to the NCAA-mandated

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC, ) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I. Of its current 11 full members, 10 are located in three states of the northeastern United States: Connecticut, New Jersey, and N ...

as an associate member in 1998–99. After a good first season in the MAAC, AIC remained at or near the bottom for the remainder of their time in the conference. When

Atlantic Hockey The Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA) is an NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey conference which operates primarily in the northeastern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as an ice hockey-only conference. Unlike several other c ...

formed in 2003–04 to take over from the discontinued MAAC the Yellow Jackets accompanied all of the former members into the new conference. The chance in name brought little difference in outcome for Wright's team. The Yellow Jackets were one of the worst programs in terms of wins in their conference and all of college hockey after joining the Division I ranks. Despite the lack of on-ice success, Wright was lauded for achieving a perfect Academic Progress Rate with his players and coaching AIC to three Team Sportsmanship Awards. Wright coached AIC from 1984 to 2016. Although his 605 losses are an NCAA record for a coach at one school, Wright was respected at the university for keeping the program alive as it played much larger and better-funded Division I teams.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Gary American ice hockey coaches Living people Vermont Catamounts men's ice hockey players American International Yellow Jackets men's ice hockey coaches Ice hockey people from Vermont Sportspeople from Burlington, Vermont Year of birth missing (living people)