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Standing behind the bench for the Notre Dame Academy hockey team, John Findley set the bar awfully high. Now it's someone else's turn to try to clear it.
Findley has retired as the Cougars coach, ending a terrific seven-season run at the all-girls school during which NDA was a perennial powerhouse and made two state championship games.
"At 63 years old and after 35 years of coaching high school sports, it's time to go," Findley said Thursday. "It's a younger person's job. Right after we got into the tournament (this season), I just decided that it was enough."
More: Skating in the spotlight: 2025 South Shore High School Girls Hockey All-Scholastic Team
"I know it was a difficult decision," said Tom Findley, John's twin brother and a longtime coach at Hingham High who retired just three years ago. "But like me, as we get older with grandchildren there are a lot of real-world things that are more important in life. It's something I know he'll miss, but it's time for him to teach his granddaughters how to skate and be with his family as they grow their families."
Coaching always has been a family affair for John Findley, a father of three who was an assistant on his brother's staff in Hingham and who had his younger daughter Martha on his NDA staff.
John Findley logged time as an assistant coach at both BC High and Duxbury; at the latter spot he coached both the boys team (winning a state crown in 2000) and the girls team. He then spent more than a decade as an assistant on Tom Findley's staff at Hingham, winning a pair of state crowns in 2008 (Division 2) and 2011 (Div. 1).
"There wasn't a better time in my life than coaching with my brother and winning two state titles with my two daughters (Meg and Beth) on the teams," said Tom Findley. "That was a great run."
More: Braintree native named Boston Bruins' high school player of the year
John Findley joked that he was always the good cop to Tom's bad cop on Hingham's staff. "It was awesome because we could feed off each other," he said. "We were thinking the same things." When Hingham players would come to him with a problem, he would tell them, "I'm going to tell you what you want to hear; (Tom's) going to tell you what you need to hear."
The brothers, who co-own a trucking company (Red Line Freight Systems), grew up together in Milton and both played hockey at BC High and what is now UMass-Dartmouth. Back then it was known as Southeast Massachusetts University. The Findleys -- John was a goalie, Tom was a forward -- won back-to-back ECAC crowns in 1983 and '84 and both were inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame. "We had a blast," John recalled.
John Findley struck out on his own in 2018, taking over the NDA program. In his seven seasons, the Cougars went 97-34-16, including 13-6 in the playoffs. NDA didn't win a state crown but came oh-so-close, losing in OT in the 2019 final (3-2 vs. Wellesley) and in triple-OT in the 2024 final (5-4 vs. St. Mary's).
Each time John Findley tried to focus on the big picture, telling The Patriot Ledger after the 2019 title game: "Thirty years from now these girls are going to remember that they were here, not the result." As for the triple-OT heartbreaker two winters ago, he said, "What can you do? You just move on. It was such a fun time (overall); we enjoyed it."
Chris Carney certainly did. A longtime NDA assistant on Findley's staff, the Hanover resident raves about the type of ship that his former boss ran.
"It was the eight greatest years of my life," Carney said of working with Findley. "He was the nicest, kindest, most positive coach that I've ever been with. Just a great guy. I can't say enough good things about him."
Carney said working under Findley was "like being a partner in business," in the sense that Findley was always receptive to suggestions. "He didn't mind if you took the lead," Carney noted. "Just a genuine person."
John Findley's NDA staff also included his daughter Martha, a former star at Duxbury High who went on to play at Saint Anselm College and now is an assistant coach at Portsmouth Abbey School in Rhode Island.
"As father-daughter we obviously have our ups and downs as far as what we would agree on," Martha said of being on her dad's staff, "but we always came to a middle ground."
Martha Findley won two Div. 2 state titles at Duxbury, in 2011 and 2012. The first title came on the same day that her dad and uncle guided the Hingham girls to the Div. 1 crown. Duxbury's game was the first one of the day at TD Garden; Hingham got the final one.
"That day was surreal," Martha Findley said. "It was an awesome feeling as a player winning that and then seeing how happy my dad and my uncle were when (Hingham) won. That was great."
Martha Findley said her dad is "definitely bummed about retiring, but he knows it's the right time for him to move on and pass the baton to the next coach."
John Findley said NDA has asked him to assist in the search for his replacement and he plans on catching some games at area rinks during next season. He and wife Debbie also will spend time with their three children -- Martha, Allie and Danny -- and their two granddaughters.
"I'll miss everything (about coaching hockey)," John Findley said. "I'll miss the camaraderie. I'll miss skating. But it's the best decision for everybody."
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: NDA hockey coach John Findley steps down, ending seven-year run
Continue reading...
Findley has retired as the Cougars coach, ending a terrific seven-season run at the all-girls school during which NDA was a perennial powerhouse and made two state championship games.
"At 63 years old and after 35 years of coaching high school sports, it's time to go," Findley said Thursday. "It's a younger person's job. Right after we got into the tournament (this season), I just decided that it was enough."
More: Skating in the spotlight: 2025 South Shore High School Girls Hockey All-Scholastic Team
"I know it was a difficult decision," said Tom Findley, John's twin brother and a longtime coach at Hingham High who retired just three years ago. "But like me, as we get older with grandchildren there are a lot of real-world things that are more important in life. It's something I know he'll miss, but it's time for him to teach his granddaughters how to skate and be with his family as they grow their families."
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Coaching always has been a family affair for John Findley, a father of three who was an assistant on his brother's staff in Hingham and who had his younger daughter Martha on his NDA staff.
John Findley logged time as an assistant coach at both BC High and Duxbury; at the latter spot he coached both the boys team (winning a state crown in 2000) and the girls team. He then spent more than a decade as an assistant on Tom Findley's staff at Hingham, winning a pair of state crowns in 2008 (Division 2) and 2011 (Div. 1).
"There wasn't a better time in my life than coaching with my brother and winning two state titles with my two daughters (Meg and Beth) on the teams," said Tom Findley. "That was a great run."
More: Braintree native named Boston Bruins' high school player of the year
John Findley joked that he was always the good cop to Tom's bad cop on Hingham's staff. "It was awesome because we could feed off each other," he said. "We were thinking the same things." When Hingham players would come to him with a problem, he would tell them, "I'm going to tell you what you want to hear; (Tom's) going to tell you what you need to hear."
The brothers, who co-own a trucking company (Red Line Freight Systems), grew up together in Milton and both played hockey at BC High and what is now UMass-Dartmouth. Back then it was known as Southeast Massachusetts University. The Findleys -- John was a goalie, Tom was a forward -- won back-to-back ECAC crowns in 1983 and '84 and both were inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame. "We had a blast," John recalled.
John Findley struck out on his own in 2018, taking over the NDA program. In his seven seasons, the Cougars went 97-34-16, including 13-6 in the playoffs. NDA didn't win a state crown but came oh-so-close, losing in OT in the 2019 final (3-2 vs. Wellesley) and in triple-OT in the 2024 final (5-4 vs. St. Mary's).
Each time John Findley tried to focus on the big picture, telling The Patriot Ledger after the 2019 title game: "Thirty years from now these girls are going to remember that they were here, not the result." As for the triple-OT heartbreaker two winters ago, he said, "What can you do? You just move on. It was such a fun time (overall); we enjoyed it."
You must be registered for see images attach
Chris Carney certainly did. A longtime NDA assistant on Findley's staff, the Hanover resident raves about the type of ship that his former boss ran.
"It was the eight greatest years of my life," Carney said of working with Findley. "He was the nicest, kindest, most positive coach that I've ever been with. Just a great guy. I can't say enough good things about him."
Carney said working under Findley was "like being a partner in business," in the sense that Findley was always receptive to suggestions. "He didn't mind if you took the lead," Carney noted. "Just a genuine person."
John Findley's NDA staff also included his daughter Martha, a former star at Duxbury High who went on to play at Saint Anselm College and now is an assistant coach at Portsmouth Abbey School in Rhode Island.
"As father-daughter we obviously have our ups and downs as far as what we would agree on," Martha said of being on her dad's staff, "but we always came to a middle ground."
You must be registered for see images attach
Martha Findley won two Div. 2 state titles at Duxbury, in 2011 and 2012. The first title came on the same day that her dad and uncle guided the Hingham girls to the Div. 1 crown. Duxbury's game was the first one of the day at TD Garden; Hingham got the final one.
"That day was surreal," Martha Findley said. "It was an awesome feeling as a player winning that and then seeing how happy my dad and my uncle were when (Hingham) won. That was great."
Martha Findley said her dad is "definitely bummed about retiring, but he knows it's the right time for him to move on and pass the baton to the next coach."
John Findley said NDA has asked him to assist in the search for his replacement and he plans on catching some games at area rinks during next season. He and wife Debbie also will spend time with their three children -- Martha, Allie and Danny -- and their two granddaughters.
"I'll miss everything (about coaching hockey)," John Findley said. "I'll miss the camaraderie. I'll miss skating. But it's the best decision for everybody."
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: NDA hockey coach John Findley steps down, ending seven-year run
Continue reading...
