Peter Van Buskirk 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. He was involved with both the men's and

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programs at the

College of the Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a private, Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, about 40 miles (64 km) west of Boston. Founded in 1843, Holy Cross is the oldest Catholic college in New England and one of the oldest ...

since 1979, serving as 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 both at various times until his retirement in 2019. In that time, he recorded more than 400 wins between the two teams.

Career

Van Buskirk got his start in college hockey as a player for

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. After graduating in 1965, Van Buskirk served as a

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in the

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during the early year of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. After mustering out of the military, Van Buskirk continued his education at

Boston State College Boston State College was a public university located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. History Boston State College's roots began with the Girls' High School, which was founded in 1852. In 1872, the Boston Normal School separated from Girl ...

, earning a

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. He began teaching afterwards and eventually returned to hockey as an assistant coach at Saint John's High School. he became the head coach at Hudson High School the next year and led the program to five regional titles over the next six years. After the Hawks won the Division I state championship in 1978, Van Buskirk was a prime candidate for college programs. When the position at Holy Cross opened in 1979 he returned to the college ranks. In his very first season with the Crusaders, Van Buskirk got the team to post a 20-win season for the first time as well as win their first postseason game in a decade. After a two-year hiccup, his team posted a second 20-win season and Van Buskirk was named as the co-College Division coach of the year in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

. He continued to lead the team for another 5 years, producing mostly positive results, before stepping down in 1988. Three years later, he returned as an assistant and served in that capacity until Paul Pearl took a year off to earn his master's. In his absence, Van Buskirk served as head coach and helped the team earn its first postseason win in 14 years. He left the program for a second time in 1997 but remained with the school, helping Holy Cross found their women's program and then became its head coach in 2000. Over the next 17 seasons, Van Buskirk helped the team become one of the top teams at the

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 ...

level. The Crusaders won 6 open championships and finished as runners-up 5 other times. In 2017 the program made the transition to Division I and continued their winning ways in the NEWHA, finishing third in the standings. The next season Holy Cross joined

Hockey East The Hockey East Association, also known as Hockey East, is a college ice hockey conference which operates entirely in New England. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference. Hockey East came into existence in 1984 for ...

, one of the premier conferences, and Van Buskirk's team struggled mightily against the stiffer competition. The Crusaders won just one game all season, but suffered a further loss after the year when Van Buskirk announced his retirement, turning the team over to Katie Lachapelle.

Head coaching record

Men's

Women's

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Buskirk, Peter 1946 births American ice hockey coaches American men's ice hockey defensemen Living people Ice hockey people from Massachusetts People from Hudson, Massachusetts United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War Military personnel from Massachusetts United States Army officers New Hampshire Wildcats men's ice hockey players Holy Cross Crusaders men's ice hockey coaches Holy Cross Crusaders women's ice hockey coaches