General News: West Point Hockey Coach Remembered
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| USMA hockey coach Ray Marchand is remembered in "Ray's Parade." |
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| The book's author, Marilyn Marchand Moore. |
February 18, 2009
Hockey lovers will want to read about the man known as the Father of USMA Hockey in a new book written by his daughter, Marilyn Marchand Moore.
Ray’s Parade tells the story of Ray Marchand’s recruitment as hockey coach by the U.S. Military Academy in 1923 and how he oversaw the development of the team and the construction of its first hockey rink, which opened in 1930. Before then, the hockey team practiced on the tennis courts, which had been watered down to create ice. Whenever a warm spell hit, the ice would disappear. The team also traveled to Bear Mountain State Park to practice on the ice rink there.
Marchand came to West Point from Ontario, Canada. He was recommended by the coach of West Point’s major rival, the Canadian Royal Military College hockey team. After being permanently appointed as both the hockey and the soccer coach in 1925, Marchand settled in a home on Spruce Street in Cornwall-on-Hudson with his wife and four daughters. He served as coach until 1944.
The self-published book is a tribute to a man who helped shape not only the sport of hockey at West Point but also the character of the athletes who played on his team. It relies on accounts by people who worked with him to paint a picture of Marchand as a quiet man who never raised his voice except when on the ice. His team, the book says, idolized him. Marchand is remembered today at the USMA when an award is his name is presented each year to the captain of the hockey team.
His daughter, Marilyn, who turns 83 this month, was known as Skip when she lived in the village. She currently resides in Melbourne, Florida, where she pursues her writing. Copies of the 105-page book are available from Xlibris at (888) 795-4274 or on the web at www.Xlibris.com.
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