Former NHL star Tony Amonte experiences growing pains as Thayer Academy coach

CANTON, Mass. – Skating up and down the rink at the Canton Sportsplex, the Thayer Academy (Braintree, Mass.) boys' hockey team moves at a frantic pace. The team flows from one drill to the next, rehearsing its puck work, sharpening its attack with each member challenging one another to get better. Time is precious.

There's an air of professionalism on the ice. It doesn't feel like a high school hockey practice. The players on the team aren't moving like high school hockey players.

For the 60 minutes allotted to the Thayer boys at the rink, the team is certainly harried, yet focused – a common meme for high school hockey teams in Massachusetts. However, it's markedly uncommon for New England prep schools like Thayer to practice at a public rink. They usually have their own. (Tuition at Thayer Academy for the 2011-12 school year was $35,175.)

Each of Thayer's opponents in the Independent School League has their own rink. And because the school lacks a rink, the Tigers practice only three days a week. To compensate, they take to the ice with sharp efficiency.



They can thank their head coach Tony Amonte for that. The retired, five-time NHL all-star and U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame member is a Thayer Academy alumnus and in his second year as coach of the Tigers.

Only four years removed from his NHL career, Amonte, 41, last played for the Calgary Flames during a stellar 16-year career with the New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks, Phoenix Coyotes and Philadelphia Flyers. The Hingham, Mass., native currently moonlights for NBC Sports as hockey analyst.

He took over as the head coach at Thayer in hopes of rebuilding the program, and he's still fighting through the growing pains. Thayer went 2-13 in Amonte's first season and is 3-8 so far this year. In the midst of it all, he's been pushing the school to get a new rink on its campus.

"It's a whole new experience for me, working with admissions and financial aid and everything else," Amonte said. "But I think we're headed in the right direction. We're young. We were a young team last year as well. So I think for at least for a couple of years we're going to be on the younger side for our league. And I like what we've done. I like the kids we've brought in. We're poised to have a good future here."

With only four seniors on the team, Amonte has emphasized developing Thayer's program with younger players. Unlike public schools, prep schools like Thayer have influence over the athletes they enroll. Transfers are common. And while recruiting may be a dirty word for most of the high school sports world, it's the name of the game for prep schools in New England.

"It's hard because we are a day school so it's local kids only," Amonte said. "We're fighting with schools that bring kids in and have boarding and things like that so it is a challenge for us. It's been a challenge for Thayer for a long time to get the kids, basically, only south of Boston. So we're trying to get back into that battle competitively and let everybody know we're still a viable school and a great school as far as academics and athletics to go along with. It's always a great mix."



For some, the draw to Thayer has been Amonte himself. Sophomore John Barry, one of the Tigers' younger players, followed Amonte after the former NHL star coached his eighth-grade team.

"I knew right then and there that he was the guy that would bring my game to the next level," Barry said. "He knew everything about the game. He's honestly the best coach I've ever had and he really pushed me to become a better player and he still has till this day."

Despite his celebrity, Amonte has tried his best not to overshadow the work of his players.

"We want the focus to be on Thayer hockey," Amonte said. "That's what we want, Thayer hockey. I'm done and over with and it's time for something else. We're trying to just build a good program here and build it with good people. First and foremost with good kids that want to be here. And we've been able to do that thus far. It hasn't showed up in the standings because we do play in a difficult league. But I know we're headed in the right direction and doing the right things."
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It doesn't rival the significance of the Chicago Blackhawks against the Detroit Red Wings, but the competition in the Independent School League is fierce. The schools in the league are feeder programs to junior hockey leagues and the highly touted Hockey East. Amonte himself played in the Hockey East for Boston University after winning a championship for Thayer, where he teamed with another future NHL all-star, Jeremy Roenick.

Wins don't come cheaply so the Tigers got a boost of confidence when they beat state powerhouse Malden Catholic 4-0 in a mid-season scrimmage.

"We have good periods here and there and then we let off the pedal and then we kind of mess up there and we can't come back from it," said Jimmy Shea, a senior and captain for the Tigers. "So I just think consistency and hard work will help us."
The lingering issue for the players, and the coach, is the rink. It's been an ongoing issue for Thayer Academy that predates Amonte's high school days in the 1980s. But it's coming to the forefront now.



"It does take away from our program," Amonte said. "We're the only school in the ISL without a rink at this current time. We're trying to get one. We're working as hard as we can, diligently over there at the school. That's the other part of my job, being in the development office. These are tough times but we're plugging away and we're trying to do everything we can to make sure that hopefully in the next three to five years we have something started or built on our campus.

"It's a project that just really needs to take place. I think the school recognizes that and I think it's going to come to the forefront here within six months to a year. This is going to be our main project for the school and hopefully we can start raising the funds properly."

In the interim, the Tigers are working hard in a shorter span of time to make up for any lost practice. It's something they're determined to do to not use their lack of a rink as a cop-out for the team's woeful standing.

Said Barry, the sophomore, "We have one of the younger teams in the ISL. We still don't have a rink, but we're working on that. But I think we have a lot of potential."

Thanks to Amonte.

Zuri Berry is a sports writer and producer for the Boston Globe and Boston.com. He's covered high school sports in California and Massachusetts for the past 10 years. You can follow him on Twitter @zuriberry, and reach him via e-mail at zuri@zuriberry.com.