VERMONT SPORTS HALL OF FAME

Courtesy: UVM Athletic Communications

Wallingford

Ice Hockey

Inducted 2024

Jim Larkin came directly to the the University of Vermont after an exceptional hockey career at Mount St. Joseph Academy in Rutland, making the jump from Vermont Division II high school hockey to NCAA Division I. At UVM, he held the record for the most points by a Vermont high school product. A talented forward, he was one of the state's top high school scorers, for a single season and for his career. 

In his four seasons at UVM, he tallied 47 goals and 71 assists for 128 points, ahead of VSHOF Hall of Famer John LeClair, who had 116. When he graduated, he ranked 11th all-time among UVM’s Division I scorers. 

As a freshman in 1988-89, he was named to the ECAC Division I all-rookie team as Vermont reached the ECAC title game at Boston Garden. He earned honorable mention all-ECAC honors the next year when he led UVM with 20 goals and 35 points. After two seasons he was joined on the Catamounts by his younger brother, Mike, a defenseman who also skated at MSJ.

Larkin was also the second Vermont former high school player to play for the U.S. National Junior team, skating at the 1990 World Junior Championships in Helsinki, Finland. 

Prior to UVM, Larkin was an all-star forward for Mount St. Joseph Academy where he led the state three times in scoring. Playing for father, James Larkin Sr., he also led the Mounties to four straight state championship games winning two D-II titles in 1986 and 1987. After three trips in Division II, MSJ moved to Division I in 1987-88, went 18-2-0 and lost in the finals to BFA-St. Albans, 2-1, in overtime. In his four state title games, he scored eight goals and set up four others.

He was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the ninth round of the 1988 NHL Entry Draft, 175th overall, the third Vermonter ever drafted following VSHOF inductees Toby Ducolon and LeClair.  Stowe-native Brady Leisenring, who played high school hockey out of state, surpassed Larkin in points at UVM in 2006.

After UVM, Larkin played five years for four minor league teams, scoring 121 goals and 285 points. He scored 50 goals in his final season for Lakeland in the Southern Hockey League.