In the winter of 2009-10, Terry Meagher will begin his 27th season at the helm of the Bowdoin men's ice hockey team. During his time in Brunswick, Meagher has accumulated a record of 421-203-42 (.664) and made eight appearances in the Championship game of the ECAC Tournament, winning two titles (1986, 1993). In 2002-03, Meagher surpassed coaching legend and predecessor Sid Watson (326 wins) with his record-breaking 327th victory. The Polar Bears can boast of being the only Division III team with two 300-win coaches.
In 1996, Meagher guided the Polar Bears to their first-ever appearance in the eight-team NCAA Division III National Tournament and repeated the performance with his 2001-02 squad. Bowdoin has also qualified for the NESCAC postseason every year of its existence. In addition, he has led the Polar Bears to the NESCAC Championship Game in each of the past three years.
Several All-Americans have played for Meagher in his time at Bowdoin, including Jean Roy (Class of 1984) who was a Hobey Baker Award Finalist -- placing him in the top 10 players in the country including all divisions. Meagher has been honored by the New England Hockey Writers Association as its Division II-III New England Coach of the Year three times. In both 1986 and 1989, he was presented with the Edward Jeremiah Mememorial Trophy which is awarded by the American Hockey Coaches Association to the National College Division Coach of the year.
Meagher (pronounced ma-HAR) is a 1976 graduate of Boston
University where he received his Bachelor's degree before earning
his Master's degree from Illinois State University in 1977. While
with Boston University, Meagher made three trips to the NCAA
Division I Final Four. During his senior year, he was voted ECAC
Tournament Most Valuable Player and the team's most valuable player
after leading the team in scoring. He also won the distinguished
scholar-athlete award at Boston University as a senior. In his time
with Bowdoin, he has also coached men's lacrosse, men's soccer and
softball. He also served for over 10 years with the American Hockey
Coaches' Association, where he also served a term as president of
the organization. Coach Meagher can be reached at tmeagher@bowdoin.edu .
Jeff Pellegrini joins the Bowdoin College men's ice hockey
program for his first season in 2009-10. Pellegrini, a former
assistant at UMass Boston, assumes the duties formerly held by Bill
Riley, who accepted a head coaching position at the Groton
School.
Pellegrini brings a wealth of hockey knowledge and recruiting
experience to the Polar Bears. His first collegiate coaching
experience was as an assistant coach at Nichols College, where the
hockey program had not experienced a winning season in nearly
thirty years. Pellegrini recruited two freshman who were nationally
ranked in scoring for the Bison, as well as the conference rookie
of the year and three All-League rookies. He helped lay the
foundation for the Bison team that captured the 2009 ECAC Northeast
Championship.
After leaving Nichols, Pellegrini became the assistant ice hockey
coach at UMass Boston in 2006 and has been instrumental in the
Beacons success over the last few seasons. He served as the team's
primary recruiting and video coordinator and helped lead the team
to their best season since 1981. In 2008-09, UMass Boston reached
the championship game of the ECAC East Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
for the first time in school history. Eight of Pellegrini's
recruited players have gone to play in the professional ranks. He
also coaches and evaluates players for USA Hockey New England
District Select festivals.
Prior to his arrival at Nichols College, Pellegrini was the head
coach of the Boston Junior Blackhawks where he was selected the
2004 Coach of the Year and was selected to coach the IJHL All-Star
Team. In addition to his success coaching the Blackhawks,
Pellegrini also had a successful career as a player. He finished as
the program's all-time leading scorer and was a three time most
valuable player and three time defenseman of the year.