Centaurs
welcome
hockey coach
The Woodstock Academy introduced its new boys’ hockey coach June 11.
Kevin Bisson has been named the head coach of the Centaurs.
Bisson is a former assistant men’s hockey coach at Assumption College in Worcester.
He is a physical education teacher at the elementary school level in Central Massachusetts and will also serve in that capacity at The Academy.
“The goal all along was to find a high school that would fit. This, finally, just came along and it was the right place at the right time. It gives me everything that I’m looking for; A program that is looking for someone to lead it and give it the right direction in a school that had a physical education opening. It was everything in one place. It has worked out tremendously and it certainly helps that the (Woodstock Academy) is an amazing school,” Bisson said.
Bisson takes over for Mike Starr who guided the program through its first five years in existence at the varsity level and led it to a state title in 2017.
Bisson’s love for hockey began in high school.
He played defense for St. John’s High School in Shrewsbury, Mass., and also for the Junior Bruins while in high school. In his senior year, St. John’s captured the Division I state championship in Massachusetts.
He didn’t have to go far to find his next place to play as Assumption is just up the road from St. John’s.
He was a captain for the Greyhounds and impressed the coaching staff so much that they made him one of them just a few years after graduation. He became the first assistant as well as defense and goalie coach in his three years at Assumption.
But life got in the way.
Bisson got married and now has three children, he didn’t want to miss them growing up as most collegiate coaches do.
“It was extremely difficult,” Bisson said of his decision to leave the college ranks. “When I was coaching at Assumption, the hope and desire was that I would phase into becoming the head coach.”
It’s a good thing he didn’t wait.
Lance Brady hired him as an assistant and Brady is still the head coach of the Greyhounds.
“It would have been me just hanging around. We worked great together. We’re friends and have known each other for a long time, so it was hard to leave, but it was made easier when I knew I was going to get a chance to coach my children,” Bisson said.
Bisson is currently the owner and director of Wolf Den hockey, a spring and summer tournament team in Massachusetts. He also runs his own skill clinics and hockey camps and gives private lessons.
He has also been the AAA director for the Worcester Crusaders and has since been elected the vice-president of AAA hockey for the Worcester Junior Railers.
The Worcester Railers are the ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s New York Islanders.
That organization has nurtured the relationship with the youth programs and the Junior Railers bear the same name and wear the same uniforms.
“There is no ownership or involvement (by the Railers) except the name connection. The kids identify with it and that makes it wonderful for them. The Worcester Junior Railers is 100 percent volunteer run, the president all the way down, no makes a single dollar and it’s completely non-profit,” Bisson said. “It means that people who are involved actually care.”
Bisson takes over a Woodstock Academy program that is just one year removed from winning a Division III state championship.
Unfortunately, the Centaurs suffered big graduation losses, were moved up to Division II and slipped to 8-13 this past season.
The cupboard, however, is not bare.
“There is definitely a lot to work with and to build off of right away,” Bisson said. “It’s just getting that winning mindset back, getting everything going the right way and have everybody buy back into my message and philosophy. I’m fully confident I will be able to achieve that.”
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
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