Doug Carpenter
Hockey
Inducted: 2008
As a teenager, Doug Carpenter was an excellent all-around athlete. In softball, he was a member of the New York Café Aces when they won the all-Ontario softball championship in 1958. He also played football, lacrosse, basketball and volleyball, and in 1961 was honoured as Cornwall's Outstanding Athlete by winning the prestigious Jacques Richard Trophy. But it was his skills as a defenceman that landed him a spot on the roster of the Montreal Junior Canadiens of the Ontario Hockey Association.
After a year in junior hockey, Doug turned pro and played the next eight years in the Eastern Hockey League with Greensboro and Roanoke Valley. His debut as a coach came in 1974 in the International Hockey League with the Flint Generals, where the following year he was named IHL Coach of the Year.
In 78/79 Doug came home to coach the Cornwall Royals of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, and in his second year guided the team to an upset of the powerful Sherbrooke Beavers, and then a Memorial Cup Championship in Brandon and Regina.
After the Memorial Cup win, Doug joined the Toronto Maples Leafs organization and coached in New Brunswick, Cincinnati and St. Catherines before being named coach of the New Jersey Devils in 1984. After four years in New Jersey, Doug became the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and guided the team to a .500 record in 1989/90.
On the international hockey stage, Doug has earned two World Cup silver medals. The first came in 1985 as head coach of a team that lost to the Czechs in the final in Prague. The second came in 1991 as an assistant to Tom Watt in Finland as Canada lost in the final to Sweden.
Ron Alguire presenting to Doug Carpenter.