By: M.J. Baird
Quinnipiac’s men’s ice hockey head coach Rand Pecknold has had a storied 24-year career at the helm in Hamden.
His accolades with Quinnipiac are plentiful, including ECAC hockey regular season titles, a postseason championship, two NCAA Frozen Four appearances and two coach of the year awards.
But Pecknold has now added a new piece of hardware to his collection: a world championship medal.
“It is an honor and a privilege to coach Team USA and I see it as a way for me to give back a little to the sport and the game that I love so much,” Pecknold said. “You get to my age you are a head coach and sometimes you don’t get to learn enough. These experiences have been great for me from a learning prospective and challenging me as a coach.”
The 51-year-old Connecticut College graduate served as an assistant to former Rensselaer head coach Seth Appert at the under-18 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championships in Russia in late April. It’s now been two weeks since Team USA lost in the championship game against Finland, earning a silver medal.
The medal is Pecknold’s first, and it was nearly a year in the making.
Last May he was selected as an assistant coach for Team USA at the World Junior Championships in Germany and France. In Pecknold’s first stint serving his country, the team lost in the quarterfinal round and missed any chance at receiving a medal.
But Pecknold found himself with a chance for redemption.
Appert, the newly named coach of the United States National Team Development Program (USNTDP), asked Pecknold then if he would join him for the next coaching opporunity.
“(Seth Appert) said to me, ‘We are going to have the (U-18 team) and we are going to Russia next year. Would you be willing to go with me on that staff?’ And I said ‘Absolutely,’ but that was early,” Pecknold said. “And then I didn’t hear from him for a while and he called me back in February and said ‘Hey are we still on?’”
For Pecknold, any opportunity to represent the United States of America is one that hits home with him. As a 13-year-old boy in his hometown of Bedford, New Hampshire, Pecknold vividly remembers the 1980 Winter Olympics.
A turning point not only in USA hockey but the social, political and economic climate of the times, these Olympic games marked a distinct moment in Pecknold’s lifetime as well.
“My whole life and career was defined by 1980, by the Miracle on Ice,” Pecknold said. “I loved hockey, it was my sport, but I can vividly still remember watching the game against the Soviets and then again the game against (Finland) to win the gold. To me I always wanted to be a part of team USA, so this is a thrill of a lifetime, as it was last year.”
Like any coach involved with such a deep-rooted hockey culture at the nation’s highest level, Pecknold found himself surrounded by some of the best coaches, players and scouts over in Russia.
Between one week of practice and nearly three weeks of competition, the Bobcats’ coach picked up many tips and tricks from learning and collaborating with others.
“I was really impressed with Seth’s practices. There were a lot of things they did in terms of pace that were similar to what we do but they had some new drills that I liked the way they did,” Pecknold said. “There were some things with their (offensive) zone play that I liked. You are kind of immersed in the hockey culture and you pick up ideas, you exchange ideas, the same thing happened the year before. It is a great way to make contacts and discuss hockey and challenge yourself to learn more.”
Last year when Pecknold coached the men’s team, his primary responsibilities were operating the power play. This time around, the coaching staff had already worked together for the entirety of the USNTDP season, with Pecknold not joining until just before the IIHF tournament. His presence this time more of a supporting role to the rest of the staff.
“My main duty coming in was to kind of consult and help the coaches with what their roles were already, but I primarily again helped with the power play,” Pecknold said. “I did a little more than that this year just kind of helping with everything. Kind of being a sounding board for Seth (Appert) and what he needed, and to give advice as the tournament wore on.”
Working behind the bench of a U-18 team was foreign to Pecknold, who is used to coaching players 3-5 years older in the college ranks.
But working with these younger athletes brought a sense of surprise to the Quinnipiac coach, so much so that he took to Twitter during the tournament to publicize their efforts.
Tough one tonight. Both teams battled hard. Compete and intensity was excellent. Quick turnaround to play Switzerland https://t.co/jiDN47NAGQ
— Rand Pecknold (@RandPecknold) April 19, 2018
Thank you @SethAppert and USA Hockey for the opportunity to coach at the World Championships. Great group of young men. High character. This group will win many medals in the years to come. https://t.co/uJueLWtCQF
— Rand Pecknold (@RandPecknold) April 29, 2018
“I knew going in that the talent was there, there is a lot of high end draft picks and a lot of good players beyond the draft picks. But I think the thing that I didn’t realize as much because I hadn’t coached that age group before was the character level,” Pecknold said. “The kids competed hard on and off the ice every day. The commitment level to their nutrition and their training for 17 and 18-year-old young adults was really impressive. We push that with the college age, but I didn’t realize that they would be that in-tune to that at 17 years old.”
Pecknold’s second stint behind the bench of team USA earned him a silver medal to add to his collection. But there is certainly way more to it than just the hardware.
“I guess you could say it is a great thing to have on your resume for down the road. Whether it is world juniors or Olympics or anything like that, I think it is a resume builder,” Pecknold said. “But for me it is just a great experience. I’m challenged to ask myself ‘Do I need to do something different?’ Or maybe we are doing the right thing and we need to stay on the same page at Quinnipiac.”
So far, staying on the same page has worked for Pecknold at Quinnipiac.
Next Fall will mark the start of his 25th season coaching the men’s ice hockey team. Slowly working up through the ranks from a small division II team to a national powerhouse at the division I level has taken time, but Pecknold has seen a lot of hockey in his career. He currently sits at 485 career wins, and even an average season next year should see him notch number 500.
And for those who enjoy looking at trends and believe in patterns, read on.
Quinnipiac hockey has some sort of connection to the number three.
In the 2012-13 season, the Bobcats reached the Frozen Four and lost in the national championship game. Three years later, in 2015-16, the Bobcats again reached the Frozen Four and again lost in the national championship game. Next year, the 2018-19 season, will be three years removed from the teams last NCAA tournament berth.
If you believe in trends and history repeating itself, next season could be a popular one for Quinnipiac hockey fans.
After all, with Pecknold adding a medal to his repertoire there are only a few things he is missing.
Perhaps the most valuable one is a National Championship ring.
