VERMONT SPORTS HALL OF FAME

Bill Beaney

Cornwall

Ice Hockey

Inducted 2019

For more than three decades, Bill Beaney was a championship ice hockey coach in the state of Vermont at both the high school and college level.

Prior to coming to Vermont, the Lake Placid, N.Y. native attended the University of New Hampshire where he played four years on varsity hockey and captained the 1974 team.

He began his coaching career in 1975 at Bellows Free Academy in St. Albans, leading the Bobwhites to three straight Vermont state championships. He then moved to the college ranks, taking over at New England College in 1979. He promptly led the Pilgrims to four consecutive ECAC tournaments and one NCAA berth. He was named the New England Coach of the Year in 1981-82 and 1983-84 at NEC.

After moving to Middlebury College in 1985, Beaney built a national powerhouse. His teams qualified for 13 consecutive NCAA tournaments from 1995-2007, winning eight national championships. He won eight NESCAC championships. His 1996 national champion squad set school records for most wins in a season at 26, highest winning percentage at .929 and longest unbeaten streak at 29 games.

He also led the Panthers to six ECAC tournament appearances with a championship in the 1990-91 season. Beaney’s 2003-04 Panthers broke the school record for wins with 27. Beaney finished his stellar career with an overall record of 602-260-59 (.696).

Beaney spent 28 of his 35 coaches seasons at the helm of the Middlebury College program where he was 516-184-51 (.721). He led the team to eight NCAA championships, including a record five in a row (1995-1999) along with three straight in 2004-06.

At Middlebury, Beaney was selected as the New England Coach of the Year in 1989, 1991,1995 and 2006. He is a four-time winner of the Edward Jerimiah Award as Division III National Coach of the Year by the American Hockey Coaches Association, and was the USCHO national coach of the year in 1998-99. 

A coach or instructor at many levels for USA Hockey, including a coach at many Olympic Festivals, Beaney was the winner of the John McInnes Award by the ACHA for concern for amateur hockey in the U.S. in 2016. 

He also has been a very successful men’s golf coach at Middlebury College winning five NESCAC titles in from 2010 to 2018.