Larry Kish obit

Former Men's Hockey All-American Larry Kish '64 Passes Away

 He was not on the list.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Former Providence College men's hockey player Larry Kish '64 passed away at the age of 83 on Thursday, January 2.

Kish, the first Friar hockey player to earn All-America accolades and one of the top defensemen in program history, was a two-time All-ECAC selection and Walter Brown Award winner (Most Valuable Player in New England). Kish co-captained the 1963-64 team that won the ECAC Championship and advanced to the Frozen Four. In 70 career games as a Friar, he totaled 12 goals and 51 assists for 63 points. After graduating Providence College in 1964, he spent 17 seasons as a head coach in the NAHL, AHL and ECHL, as well as a stint as head coach of the Hartford Whalers in 1982.

Kish was inducted into the Providence College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1974.

He was the head coach of the Hartford Whalers of the National Hockey League for 49 games during the 1982–83 NHL season.

Kish was born in Welland, Ontario, Canada on December 11, 1941. He played minor hockey for Peterborough TPT Petes of the Ontario Hockey Association from 1958 to 1960. He later went on to play the 1963–64 season for Providence College.

He began his coaching career with the Lowell Chiefs in 1970. He coached the 1972–73 season with the Rhode Island Eagles. He coached two seasons with the Cape Codders of the North American Hockey League. During the 1975–76 season the Binghamton Dusters hired after the Cape Codders temporarily folded. He was let go after the 1977–78 season when the Dusters changed their affiliation to the Quebec Nordiques. From 1980 to 1982 he was the head coach of the Binghamton Whalers. After a 46–28–6 record in the 1981–82 AHL season, Kish's Whalers made it to the Calder Cup Finals, where they lost to the New Brunswick Hawks. Kish won the Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award as AHL coach of the year. He was promoted to coach the parent club in Hartford for the 1982–83 season. After a lackluster 12–32–5 performance over the first 49 games, Kish was fired and replaced by his replacement in Binghamton, Larry Pleau. Pleau, ironically, had been the man Kish replaced as Hartford's head coach.

Kish spent from 1984–87 as head coach of the Nova Scotia Oilers, making the playoffs twice besides having three losing seasons. He later coached the Wheeling Thunderbirds of the ECHL during the 1995–96 season.

Kish died in Naples, Florida, on January 2, 2025, at the age of 83.