John Paul Cunniff (July 9, 1944 – May 10, 2002) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

coach and former professional player who appeared in 65

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...

regular season games between 1972 and 1976. Cunniff was inducted into the

United States Hockey Hall of Fame The United States Hockey Hall of Fame was established in 1973 with the goal of preserving the history of ice hockey in the United States while recognizing the extraordinary contributions of select players, coaches, administrators, officials and ...

in 2003.

Amateur career

Cunniff was born in

South Boston, Massachusetts South Boston is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay. South Boston, colloquially known as Southie, has undergone several demographic transformati ...

and attended

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

, where he was a two-time All-American left wing, and was the 1964 Rookie of the Year, and was the first hockey player ever to be named the Beanpot MVP twice ('64 & '65); a record that lasted for 39 years. He was a dominant scorer, his 71 goals and 82 assists in just 75 games established a Boston College career point record. His 67 points in 1966–67 was best in the nation, and helped the Eagles reach the NCAA Championship finals. Twice he won All-America honors, was a three-time All-East selection, and a three-time All-New England choice. He was named to the All-Time Boston Garden Beanpot Tournament Team. Cunniff wore #2 for the Eagles from 1963–66 and registered 153 points—71 goals and 82 assists—in 75 collegiate games. He earned All-America honors in 1965 and 1966. He joined the U.S. National team in 1967 for the

Ice Hockey World Championship The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annua ...

tournament in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and also played for the U.S. at the 1968 Olympics in

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

Professional career

John Cunniff enjoyed a successful professional playing career with the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

, and

Quebec Nordiques The Quebec Nordiques (french: Nordiques de Québec, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Quebec City Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the W ...

organizations, and as a member of the

New England Whalers New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

in the

in 1972–74. Cunniff played on the New England Whalers team that won the WHA's inaugural championship. He returned to the U.S. national team for the 1975 hockey world championship tournament.

Coaching career

Cunniff served as a player/coach in the

North American Hockey League The North American Hockey League (NAHL) is one of the top junior hockey leagues in the United States and is in its 48th season of operation in 2022–23. It is the only Tier II junior league sanctioned by USA Hockey, and acts as an alternati ...

and

New England Hockey League New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

before joining the

Hartford Whalers The Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its existence in Hartford, Connecticut. The club played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1972 until 1979, and in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1979 to ...

as an assistant coach in 1981 after his playing career had ended in 1979. He was named head coach of the

Binghamton Whalers The Binghamton Whalers were an ice hockey team in the American Hockey League, playing in Binghamton, New York, USA, at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena. History The Whalers were generally a successful team, making the playoffs seven time ...

the following season and coached the Hartford Whalers during the 1982–83 NHL season. He then joined the Boston Bruins organization as assistant coach of the Bruins with Terry O'Reilly in the 1987–88 Stanley Cup appearance. He was head coach of the

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional sports, professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...

from 1989 to 1991, coached the

Albany River Rats The Albany River Rats were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Albany, New York at the Times Union Center. History Before the formation of the franchise Without a viable indoor arena with a ...

, and his name was engraved on the Stanley cup with the Devils in 2000. His involvement in 13 seasons with the Devils organization includes serving as head coach of the NHL club for two seasons (1989–90 and 1990–91). Prior to joining the Devils' organization, he was an assistant coach with the

for three seasons. In addition, he guided the Hartford Whalers for 13 games as head coach in 1982-83. Cunniff's extensive experience with USA Hockey includes serving as associate coach during the

1994 Winter Olympic Games The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...

Lillehammer, Norway Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...

, assistant coach for the 1998 U.S. Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Team in

Nagano, Japan Nagano may refer to: Places * Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan ** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture *** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics *** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano *** Nagano Univer ...

, and assistant coach for the 2002 U.S. Olympic Men's Hockey Team in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

. Cunniff was named assistant coach for the United States team that captured the championship in the

1996 World Cup of Hockey The first World Cup of Hockey ( WCH), or ''1996 World Cup of Hockey'', replaced the Canada Cup as one of the premier championships for professional ice hockey. Inaugural ''World Cup of Hockey'' The first edition of the Cup featured eight teams d ...

. He was an assistant coach for four U.S. National Teams (1982, 1991, 1992 and 1993) at the

International Ice Hockey Federation The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 m ...

(IIHF) Men's World Championships, and was an assistant on two U.S. National Junior Teams (1992 and 1993) at the

IIHF World Junior Championships The IIHF World Junior Championship (WJC), or simply the "World Juniors" in ice hockey circles, is an annual event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) for national under-20 ice hockey teams from around the world. It is t ...

. In addition, Cunniff was an assistant coach for Team USA in the

1981 Canada Cup The 1981 Labatt Canada Cup was the second best-on-best ice hockey world championship and involved the world's top six hockey nations. Tournament games were held in Edmonton, Winnipeg, Montreal and Ottawa. The Soviet Union national ice hockey team ...

tournament. Cunniff served as head coach of the

—the top minor-league affiliate of the National Hockey League's New Jersey Devils—for five seasons (1996–2001). He finished in 2000-01 as the AHL's longest tenured head coach at the time. After posting a record of 187-169-39 as head coach with Albany, Cunniff transitioned to New Jersey's scouting staff in 2001. Cunniff was inducted into the Massachusetts Hockey Hall of Fame in 1997; was named the 1998 Walter Yaciuk Award Winner for his outstanding contribution to USA Hockey's coaching education program and in 2002; was posthumously honored with the USA Hockey Distinguished Achievement Award. A superb strategist, innovative trainer, and excellent coach, he was among the first U.S. hockey coaches to incorporate international (Russian/European) training and open play-making to successfully coach and mentor some of the best NHL players. He was well known for his voracious reading of military strategy, leadership, and motivational training. He died from esophageal cancer in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

and is buried at Cedar Grove Cemetery in

Dorchester, Massachusetts Dorchester (colloquially referred to as Dot) is a Boston neighborhood comprising more than in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Originally, Dorchester was a separate town, founded by Puritans who emigrated in 1630 from Dorchester ...

. He was inducted to the Massachusetts Hockey Hall of Fame and the

U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame The United States Hockey Hall of Fame was established in 1973 with the goal of preserving the history of ice hockey in the United States while recognizing the extraordinary contributions of select players, coaches, administrators, officials and ...

. He was inducted into the Boston College Varsity Club Athletic Hall of Fame in 1978, and his number was retired to the rafters of

Conte Forum The Silvio O. Conte Forum, commonly known as Conte Forum, Kelley Rink (for ice hockey games), or simply Conte, is an 8,606-seat multi-purpose arena which opened in 1988 on the campus of Boston College in Chestnut Hill, near Boston, Massachuset ...

at Boston College.http://bceagles.cstv.com/genrel/cunniff_john00.html

NHL Coaching record

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cunniff, John 1944 births 2002 deaths American ice hockey coaches American men's ice hockey left wingers Baltimore Clippers players Boston Bruins coaches Boston College Eagles men's ice hockey players Cleveland Barons (1937–1973) players Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Deaths from esophageal cancer Fort Worth Wings players Hartford Whalers coaches Ice hockey coaches from Massachusetts Ice hockey players at the 1968 Winter Olympics Jacksonville Barons players New England Whalers players New Jersey Devils coaches New Jersey Devils scouts North American Hockey League (1973–1977) coaches Olympic ice hockey players of the United States People from South Boston Quebec Nordiques (WHA) players Rochester Americans players Sportspeople from Boston Springfield Indians players Stanley Cup champions United States Hockey Hall of Fame inductees AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans Ice hockey players from Boston