| Title: | Head Men's Ice Hockey Coach |
| Phone: | 617-287-7812 |
| Email: | peter.belisle@umb.edu |
| Position: | Head Coach |
| Experience: | 7th Season |
| Alma Mater: | U. of Connecticut, 1995 |
The 2012-13 season, will mark the seventh year behind the UMass Boston bench for Head Coach Peter Belisle. Since taking over the program, Belisle has lifted the Beacons to new heights which included a run to the ECAC East Championship game in 2008-09. Belisle currently stands tied for most playoff victories in program history.
Last season, Belisle helped the Beacons make history twice as they upended two top-5 teams in less than month. He first led UMass Boston to a 2-1 win over previously unbeaten and top-ranked Norwich University. Less than three weeks later, lightning struck twice as Belisle's Beacons defeated fifth ranked Castleton State College. At the end of the year, Belisle saw senior netminder Kevin Bendel '12 earn ECAC East Goalie of the Year and First Team All-Conference honors. He also had two other players earn All-Conference honors.
During the 2010-11 season, Belisle guided the Beacons to a third
place regular season finish in the ECAC East to secure the
program's first home playoff game since the 1999-00 campaign. The
team captured 15 wins for the highest total since the 1991-92
season while posting an above .500 mark for the first time since
1999-00.
Over his career, the UMass Boston mentor's hallmark has been
motivating his teams to win the big games, including a road victory
over nationally-ranked Middlebury College in 2008 for the second
straight season and a 1-0 overtime road win over nationally-ranked
Norwich University to become the first number eight seed to defeat
a number one seed in ECAC East Tournament history in 2009. He
followed that by directing the team to a semifinals win to land the
Beacons in the ECAC East championship for the first time in school
history.
Belisle's second season saw him construct a team that registered
the highest win total at UMass Boston in eight campaigns, while
winning the school's first playoff game since 2000. Along the way,
the Beacons won their first Codfish Bowl championship since 1997,
defeated a pair of nationally-ranked teams and received votes in
the USCHO.com national poll in two consecutive weeks to end their
season. Belisle's team also boasted the first ECAC East Goalie of
the Year and saw production from some of the most talented freshmen
in the region, including a member of the ECAC East All-Rookie
team.
Belisle became the program's 11th varsity head coach after spending
nine years with Division I University of Connecticut as an
assistant coach. The New England Native spent his first year of
coaching with College of the Holy Cross, where he helped guide the
Crusaders to their first playoff victory in 13 years. He returned
to UConn the following season to help guide the program that he was
once a part of as a four-year standout player. Belisle helped
direct the Huskies to a 19-16-1 mark in 1999-2000, en-route to a
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship in 2000 and was
behind the bench for UConn's second 20-win season in 1998-99 when
it put together a 20-10-4 mark, including an 18-6-4 record in MAAC
play.
Prior to his joining the coaching ranks, Belisle was a four-year
letter winner with the Huskies from 1991-95 as a forward. During
his playing tenure at Storrs, UConn posted one of the greatest
four-year periods in school-history with a 71-25-12 mark, including
four ECAC playoff appearances. He is still the second all-time
leading playoff goal scorer in Connecticut ice hockey history and
during his junior season, was the recipient of UConn's 7th Player
Award. During his career with the Huskies, he tallied 36 goals and
42 assists for a total of 78 points.
Belisle's coaching experience is not limited to his collegiate
tenure, having instructed and been a coach at several of New
England's premier hockey camps as well. He has served as a head
instructor at the Connecticut Hockey Experience, the Learn to Skate
Program at UConn, Bill Belisle's Hockey School, and the Mount Saint
Charles Instructional Hockey Program and for the past three
summers, Belisle coached at the USA Hockey Team New England Select
14 and Select 15 Player Development Camp.
Prior to his collegiate career, Belisle was a part of Mount Saint
Charles Academy teams that captured the Rhode Island State
championship twice and, during his junior season, the Mounties'
success wasn't limited to the state level as they were crowned
national champions as well.
The native of Manville, RI, graduated with a bachelor of science
degree in business administration, management from UConn in 1995
and followed that with a master of arts degree in sport management
in 1999 also at the Storrs campus.
Belisle currently resides in Cumberland, RI with his wife, Carrie,
their daughters, Madeleine, Norah and Halle.
