RI Hockey Hall of Fame to Induct EP’s Tim Army in 2020

According to a press release from the RI Hockey Hall of Fame, former Townie and Providence College hockey great Tim Army will be inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2020. Army was also inducted into the Providence College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1997 and the RI Interscholastic League Hall of Fame in 2011. He is also an EPHS Hall of Fame inductee. “Tim Army, born April 26, 1963, is the grandson of famed RI Reds’ trainer, George Army, son of former Providence College team captain and star, Tom Army, brother of Boston College All-American, Billy, Wesleyan standout, Tom, Jr., and father of former Friar star and professional, Derek Army, and Stonehill star Travis Army,” said the Hall of Fame announcement.

He was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 9th round (171st overall) of the 1981 NHL Entry Draft. He is currently the head coach of the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey Leagues. He previously served 14 years as an assistant coach with Anaheim, Washington and the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League and spent last season as assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Scranton-Wilkes Barre AHL affiliate.

Tim was a two-time All-Stater at East Providence High School. He played four outstanding seasons at Providence College. Tim captained the Friars’ 1984–85 squad and was rewarded for his outstanding play by being named an NCAA (East) First Team All-American and was selected as a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as the nation’s best collegiate hockey player in 1985.

Tim returned to serve as the head coach of the Friars in 2005. In six seasons, he posted a 66-116-28 mark, including a 47-88-27 record in Hockey East play.

Tim has served as an assistant coach for the United States men’s national ice hockey team at the 1994 and 1996 Men’s World Ice Hockey Championships, at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, and also at the 2012 World Cup of Hockey.

The 2019-19 campaign marks Army’s 32nd season of coaching at the NHL, American Hockey League, international and collegiate level. He coached his 1,000th NHL game on April 11, 2015, for the Colorado Avalanche against the Chicago Blackhawks. He returns to his home state each summer to coach and assist at youth clinics (RI Hockey Hall of Fame).

Army joins EP’s Ron Wilson, Peter Demers and Larry Reid in the RI Hockey HOF

Ron Wilson was a 3-time All-Stater at East Providence High School before moving on to Providence College where he became a 2-time All-American and the Friars’ all-time leading scorer. He led the nation in points in the 1974-75 season, collecting 87 points on 26 goals and 61 assists in just 26 games. He still holds the school records (and NCAA records for defensemen) in career points (250), assists (172), most points in a single season (87) and single season assists (61). He and his brothers, Brad and Randy, are members of the Providence College Athletic Hall of Fame. The Ron Wilson Award is presented annually to PC’s top defenseman.

The seventh pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1975 NHL Entry Draft, Wilson made his professional playing debut with the CHL’s Dallas Black Hawks in 1976. The following year, his strong play earned him CHL First Team All-Star honors and a call up to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ron’s 648 regular-season NHL wins are the most ever among American coaches. He coached his teams to 48 Stanley Cup playoff wins and four 100-point seasons. Ron also guided Team USA to some of its brightest moments ever, most notably its triumph in the inaugural World Cup of Hockey in 1996 and the Silver Medal at the 2010 Olympic Games.

Peter Demers. Demers played high school hockey at East Providence and later in amateur circles as far away as Alaska when he skated with the Army Rangers team while stationed there after enlisting in the U.S. Air Force.

After military service in the 1960’s, Pete became a protege of former RI Red’s athletic trainer, George Army. He spent 3 years as the assistant to the legendary trainer with the Reds. Demers played for Brown University, and was given the opportunity to become the head trainer of the AHL’s Springfield Kings in 1969. Two years later, he was rewarded with the first of his 5 commemorative championship rings when the Kings captured the Calder Cup. In 1972, Demers was appointed head trainer of the parent Los Angeles Kings. Respected throughout hockey, Pete did not miss a contest in 2,632 Kings games (34 seasons) while tending to the injuries and ailments of the likes of such greats as Wayne Gretzky, Marcel Dionne, and Rogie Vachon, to name a few. He became an inaugural member of the LA Kings Hall of Fame in 1997 and was presented a Stanley Cup ring in 2012 as the closing chapter of his hockey life.

Larry Reid. The R.I. Hockey Hall of Fame has announced that Lawrence “Larry” Reid, of East Providence, is the recipient of the 2019 Malcolm Greene Chace Memorial Trophy recognizing “Achievement and Outstanding Service by a Rhode Islander to the Game of Hockey.” Reid never learned to skate and did not play hockey. That didn’t keep him from distinguishing himself with his off-ice contributions to the game at the local, regional, national and international level over the last 50 years.

“The East Providence Hockey Association had 700 kids and you were expected to help,” recalls Reid, so help he did. Before long, he was running the house league. Eventually, he became president of the EPHA. From 1982 to 1984, he served as president of the R.I. Amateur Hockey Association. A couple of years later, he started taking on high-profile responsibilities for USA Hockey.

Reid was asked to take charge of the 1986 Olympic Festival in Houston and ended up running Olympic Festivals for many years. Reid was the guiding force and the first chairman of the Yankee Conference Festival, which became the centerpiece of the N.E. Hockey District’s Player Development programs. Other districts across the country followed suit. As a USA Hockey director, he helped set policy for all youth hockey across the country (Stats from RIHHOF).