Jack Leetch is an American retired ice hockey

Defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

and Winger who was an All-American for

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 ...

Career

Jack Leetch was a three-year varsity player for

under John Kelley. He led the team in goals as a senior, scoring 27 and was named an All-American after having switched from Defense to Wing. Leetch helped the Eagles reach the ECAC Championship, garnering not only a spot on the All-Tournament First Team but an appearance for BC in the NCAA Tournament. The Eagles lost both of their tournament games to finish fourth but Leetch was recognized as one of their best played with another appearance on an All-Tournament Team. After graduating, Leetch tried to make the US Olympic team but was one of the final roster cuts. He retired as a player afterwards moved to

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

where his son

Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word me ...

was born. Eventually the family settled in

Cheshire, Connecticut Cheshire ( ), formerly known as New Cheshire Parish, is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. At the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population of Cheshire was 28,733. The center of population of Connecti ...

where Jack became the manager of the town's ice rink. He was able to use his position to give his children as much as time as possible, with his son

showing particular promise. Brian became a star on his high school team, and the elder Leetch was able to see his son follow in his footsteps by attending

; Brian would ultimately reach the

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 ...

with the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

and join the

Hockey Hall of Fame , logo = Hockey Hall of Fame Logo.svg , logo_upright = 0.5 , image = Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto.jpg , caption = The Hall's present location on Yonge Street since 1992 , map_type = , former_name = , established = 1943 , location = 30 Y ...

. Jack Leetch was inducted into the Boston College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1984. Another son, Eric, played college hockey at

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

and went on to become an

army chaplain A military chaplain ministers to military personnel and, in most cases, their families and civilians working for the military. In some cases they will also work with local civilians within a military area of operations. Although the term '' ch ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leetch, Jack Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American ice hockey centers Ice hockey players from Massachusetts People from Braintree, Massachusetts Boston College Eagles men's ice hockey players AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans