Former Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute men's hockey coach Mike Addesa passed away earlier this week at the age of 77.
The Boston native was head coach at RPI from 1979 to 1989, and guided the Engineers to the 1985 NCAA Division I men's hockey title. He was relieved of his duties in 1989 after a racial incident with two of his players, and never coached at the college level again.
After one year as general manager with the Notre Dame Hounds of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, Addesa spent five years as a scout with the NHL's Detroit Red Wings. He went on to become general manager/head coach and franchise owner with the Boston Bulldogs junior organization, from 1995 to 2012. He then scouted for the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks, and also served as GM with the Seacoast Spartans Prep organization until retiring in 2017.
Addesa began his hockey coaching career in 1966-67 as an assistant at Stoneham (Mass.) High School, then moved on to St. Mary's (Mass.) High the following season as head coach. He then oversaw Randolph (N.J.) High for five seasons and Wellesley (Mass.) High for one before taking an assistant's job in 1974-75 at his alma mater, the College of the Holy Cross, where he had played football. He was promoted to head coach of the Crusaders in 1976, and remained in Worcester until he took the top job at RPI, where he fashioned an overall record of 186–124–9 over 10 NCAA campaigns.
Addesa was inducted into the Massachusetts High School Hockey Hall of Fame in 2002.
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