J. Thom Lawler

J. Thom Lawler
	Lawler In 1974
Biographical details
Born	New York, U.S.
Died	June 11, 1978 (age 44)
Alma mater	St. Lawrence University
Playing career
1957–1960	St. Lawrence
Position(s)	Left Wing
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1960–1961	Canton Central HS
1961–1965	Madrid–Waddington CS
1965–1978	Merrimack
Head coaching record
Overall	218-138-10 (.609)
Tournaments	2–0
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
	1967 National Championship
Awards
	Merrimack Athletics hall of fame (1984); Rome Sports hall of fame (1995);

J. Thom Lawler was an American

1978 with Merrimack

.

Career

A veteran of the

1959 NCAA Tournament they fell flat in their return the following year, losing in the semifinal to Michigan Tech

3–13.

Several years after graduating, Lawler became the athletic director at

Norwich 12–3 in the semifinal the Warriors defeated Colby 6–4 to capture their first conference championship. Lawler's team repeated as champions the following year while also claiming their first regular season title, going 12–1 in conference play. After winning a second league title in 1969 Merrimack declined for a couple years before building back up into a conference powerhouse. He would lead the warriors to 5 straight seasons of 20 or mores wins from 1973-1978 going 112-48-6 overall and 78-14-4 in conference during this stretch. Then for three consecutive years from 1975 through 1977 Merrimack won the ECAC 2 regular season title, going 63–8–2 in conference over those three seasons and were finally able to win their third conference championship in 1977. The NCAA instituted a Division II national championship for the 1977–78 season and Merrimack responded by finishing second in the conference. The Warriors fell in the ECAC 2 title game to Bowdoin, however, because university policy prohibited Bowdoin from participating in national tournaments^[2]

Merrimack was invited to take place in the tournament as the ECAC East representative.

Lawler's team opened against Mankato State and won the game fairly easily (6–1). In the championship game they faced off against Lake Forest and completely took over the game, eventually winning by a score of 12–2.

Lawler would be the first coach in program history to hit the 100 and 200 win mark.

Unfortunately two months after the tournament Lawler suffered a

heart attack

and died at the age of 44.

After his untimely death Lawler was honored for his accomplishments.

home rink in his honor and began awarding alumni the J. Thom Lawler Award for their contributions to the ice hockey program.^[3] The NCAA also confers an annual J. Thom Lawler award to the Division II or III player from New England for their commitment to their program, university and community.^[4] In 1984 he was inducted into the Merrimack Athletics hall of fame.^[5] Then in 1995 he was inducted in the Rome, New York sports hall of fame.^[6]

Personal life

Lawler's son, Tom Lawler, was a freshman at Merrimack when J. Thom died. He completed his four years at the college, finishing second in career points (he sits 4th as of 2018) and captaining the team in his senior season.

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Merrimack Warriors (ECAC 2) (1965–1978)
1965-66	Merrimack	8-10-1	5-5-1	4th
1966-67	Merrimack	13-9-0	7-3-0	4th	ECAC 2 Champion
1967-68	Merrimack	18-8-0	12-1-0	1st	ECAC 2 Champion
1968-69	Merrimack	8-13-0	7-3-0	1st	ECAC 2 Semifinal
1969-70	Merrimack	13-13-0	9-5-0	4th	ECAC 2 Semifinal
1971-72	Merrimack	12-16-1	8-7-1	13th
1971-72	Merrimack	16-9-0	13-5-0	5th	ECAC 2 Semifinal
1972-73	Merrimack	18-12-2	14-6-1	4th	ECAC 2 Semifinal
1973-74	Merrimack	21-13-2	15-6-2	5th	ECAC 2 Runner-Up
1974-75	Merrimack	23-8-1	22-3-1	1st	ECAC 2 Semifinal
1975-76	Merrimack	24-7-0	21-3-0	1st	ECAC 2 Runner-Up
1976-77	Merrimack	23-11-1	20-2-1	1st	ECAC 2 Champion
1977-78	Merrimack	21-9-2	16-4-1	2nd	NCAA National Champion
Merrimack:		218-138-10
Total:		218-138-10
National champion Postseason invitational champion Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

References

^ "Lawler Rink". Merrimack Warriors. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
^ "Bowdoin College Men's Hockey History" (PDF). Bowdoin Polar Bears. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 29, 2018. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
^ "Merrimack men's Hockey 2018-19 Record Book without Year-By-Year" (PDF). Merrimack Warriors. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
^ "UMass Boston Senior Receives Prestigious Hockey Award". UMass Boston News. April 13, 2012. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
^ Merrimack Athletics hall of fame https://merrimackathletics.com/sports/2017/7/12/HOF-index.aspx
^ "Rome Sports Hall of Fame 1977-2014". Rome Sentinel. June 12, 2014. Retrieved January 28, 2019.

External links

[1] "Lawler Rink". Merrimack Warriors. Retrieved January 28, 2019.

[2] "Bowdoin College Men's Hockey History" (PDF). Bowdoin Polar Bears. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 29, 2018. Retrieved November 28, 2018.

[Record-3] "Merrimack men's Hockey 2018-19 Record Book without Year-By-Year" (PDF). Merrimack Warriors. Retrieved January 28, 2019.

[4] "UMass Boston Senior Receives Prestigious Hockey Award". UMass Boston News. April 13, 2012. Retrieved January 28, 2019.

[5] Merrimack Athletics hall of fame https://merrimackathletics.com/sports/2017/7/12/HOF-index.aspx

[6] "Rome Sports Hall of Fame 1977-2014". Rome Sentinel. June 12, 2014. Retrieved January 28, 2019.

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

Career

Personal life

Head coaching record

See also

References

External links