Hockey

Building one of the greatest dynasties in high-school athletics took years of effort. 

It was the product of several coaches at CM, since 1957, all of whom earned their place in laying the foundation for what has become one of the most storied high school sports programs in the nation.

Brother Donald Bauer and Brother Robert J. Roepke, two of CM’s Christian Brothers, began the fledgling program with a JV squad and grew it into a varsity team by 1961.  Joe Quinn took over as head coach in 1962.  One of Quinn’s seniors in the 1962-1963 season was Jack Parker, who was voted MVP of the team before going on to play for Boston University, where he led his team to winning three Beanpots before assuming coaching duties there in 1973.  Two other players from Quinn's undefeated team in 1966 would go on to win a silver medal for the United States in the 1972 Olympics: Kevin Ahearn ’66 and Dick McGlynn ’66. Ahearn went on to become a top scorer in what was then called the South Shore League. 

No one team established a legacy of championships through the 1960s and 1970s in the South Shore and Catholic school hockey leagues, although Archbishop Williams was frequently hoisting the trophy in those decades.  The team practiced and played, as did many teams, at Hingham’s indoor rink.  Edward McElaney and Paul O’Brien also had brief tenures in the head coaching positions in the 1970s.



In 1977 current head coach Bill Hanson began his tenure at CM as a teacher and head hockey coach.  Hanson’s goal was clear: to establish hockey as an equally dominant domain for CM athletes as the successful basketball team had been for the 1960s.  By 1983, the team was finishing with a winning regular season record and regularly making post-season appearances.

It was in that year that the Donatos began arriving at CM.  Four brothers from nearby Dedham, the Donatos excelled in any sport they tried, but particularly hockey.  Ted played four years under Coach Hanson, graduating as the school’s all-time leading scorer.  And in 1986, Donato and his teammates brought home the first state title for CM hockey.  Hanson’s squad, led by Donato, would do the same in 1987.

Donato would go on to play for Harvard University, where he is the 12th all-time leading scorer and where he captained the 1989 National Championship team.  He went on to play for five NHL teams, and like Ahearn and McGlynn, would represent the United States on the US Olympic Hockey Team, in 1992.  In 2004, Donato was appointed head coach at Harvard.  Donato’s “#6” is, to date, the only retired hockey number in school history.

In the two decades following, Coach Hanson continued his pursuit of excellence on the ice, turning out 20 Catholic Conference Championships, 17 State Championships, 13 "Super-8" Tournament Championships and 6 National Championships.  His hockey program is consistently ranked highly at the state and national level and has become one of the winningest dynasties in high school athletics nationwide. 

Several alums of the Catholic Memorial School hockey program have gone on to professional hockey careers, including Kevin Ahearn ’66, Harvard head coach Ted Donato ‘87, defenseman Paul Stanton ’85, goaltender Jim Carey ’92, and defenseman Jim Fahey ’98.