John P. "Jack" Riley * 1960 Olympic Team Coach

Dartmouth College, 1940-1942 and 1946-1947
U.S. Naval Air Corps, 1942-1946
U.S. Olympic Team, St. Moritz, Switzerland, 1948, player
U.S. National Team, Stockholm, Sweden, 1949, player-coach
Coach:
U.S. Military Academy, West Point, NY, 1950-1986
U.S. Olympic Hockey Team, Squaw Valley, NY, 1960
Born: June 15, 1920, Medford, Massachusetts

Squaw Valley, 1960. An underdog American team stuns the hockey world by defeating the great ice powers - Canada, Russia, Czechoslovakia, and Sweden - to capture this country's only first place finish in Olympic hockey competition. According to Coach Jack Riley, the team's success was predicated on condition, dedication, and team effort.
From preliminary training camps in Minneapolis, MN and Boston, MA 22 players were selected to report to the final camp at West Point, NY by December 27, 1959. Under Riley's tutelage the squad was pared to 17 players and departed January 15^th on an 18-game exhibition tour. Goalie Jack McCartan and Dick Rodenhiser reported in early January to West Point. Just before the deadline to complete all rosters three more players were named, former Minnesota stars John Mayasich and Harvard's Bill and Bob Cleary. All three are enshrinees of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. The changes proved critical to Riley's squad as they swept undefeated through the preliminary and championship rounds to the gold medal victory.
After scoring victories over Sweden (6-3) and Germany (9-1), the U.S. surprised the hockey world by beating Canada (2-1). Spectacular goaltending by Jack McCartan and goals by Bob Cleary, and Paul Johnson led to the huge victory. Two days later the Russians went down to defeat against the Americans for the first time in hockey history (3-2). With 10,000 fans jamming Blyth Arena and a national television audience a goal by Bill Cleary and the tying and winning goals by Billy Christian with passes from Roger Christian and Tom Williams led to a wild celebration.
The following morning at 8 o'clock the U.S. team played the Gold Medal game against Czechoslovakia. Losing 4-3 going into the third period, the U.S. scored six goals in the final nine minutes to win 9-4. Roger Christian scored four goals, three in the third period. Bob Cleary scored two goals, including the winner, and Bill Cleary closed out the scoring in an unbelievable display of offensive hockey. Sound defensive play throughout the tournament, led by MVP goalie Jack McCartan and the four defensemen, Captain Jack Kirrane, John Mayasich, Bob Owens, Rob Paavola played a major role in the success of the team. The U.S. team outscored the opposition in the third period in all games by a score of 19-4.
Jack Riley was an outstanding hockey player at Dartmouth College whose career was interrupted by WW II while he was playing as a sophomore in 1941-1942 and returned to college in 1946-47 to captain the team that tied University of Toronto for the North American Championship.
From 1942-1946 he served as a US Naval Aviator serving in the Pacific Theatre. In 1948, he was a member of the U.S. Olympic Hockey Team at St. Moritz, Switzerland. In 1949 he was a player-coach of the US National Team in Stockholm, Sweden. The U.S. was the only team to defeat the world champions, Czechoslovakia (2-0). Riley scored both goals.
He served as the head hockey coach at the US Military Academy, West Point, NY from 1950-1986 and was also the assistant athletic director. He has been twice named NCAA Coach of the Year. Riley was inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame in 1979, and the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame in 1998. He received the Lester Patrick Award in 1986 and 2002.

Both of Jack's sons Rob & Brian are following in his footsteps.
Rob Riley enters his 17th season as mentor to the school's icemen. The Riley name has been synonymous with Army hockey since 1951 when legendary football coach and athletic director, Earl "Red" Blaik, hired Jack Riley to head the program. The fiery ex-Olympian held that position until the fall of 1986 when he handed over control of the team to his son, after racking up 542 career wins in 36 years at West Point.
Rob Riley has emerged from under the shadow left by his Hall of Fame father and has carved his own niche into the Army hockey program at West Point. The upcoming season marks the 53rd campaign that a Riley has stood behind the Black Knights' bench.
In his coaching career, Riley has authored an impressive resume while molding young cadets into leaders of character. He ranks 23rd in wins among active NCAA coaches and is tied for 59th on the all-time list. Only seven other coaches in college hockey have been at their institution longer than Riley.
During the 1991-92 season, Riley secured his 100th career victory with a 6-2 win over future MAAC rival American International College on Nov. 8, 1991.
Three years ago, he picked up his 200th win at Army and his 250th overall. Last winter, Riley became just the second coach in Black Knights history to coach in 500 games, reaching that milestone on Jan. 25 at AIC. He has 227 career wins at Army in 511 games - both are second only to his father at the Academy.
Having grown up at the U.S. Military Academy, Riley understands all that is encompassed in the "West Point experience." His teams traditionally rank among the Academy's top squads in grade-point average.
Riley is part of a family that has produced three Division I head coaches who have all been very successful. Sixteen years after his retirement, Jack Riley is still among the Top 10 winningest coaches of all-time, and cousin, Bill Riley, is 25th on the NCAA all-time wins list with 376 victories while at Lehigh and UMass-Lowell.
For 13 of Riley's 17 years at West Point, he has had younger brother Brian at his side as his top assistant. The two are the only brothers coaching together at the same institution in college hockey today.
A 1978 graduate of Boston College, Rob Riley captained the 1977-78 Eagles to a 24-10 record and a trip to the national championship game against cross-city rival Boston University. Although BC lost that title clash 5-3, the Eagles boasted an ECAC title and tied the school's single-season record for victories.
Upon graduation, Riley remained at his alma mater for two seasons as an assistant to the varsity and head junior varsity coach. He then moved on to St. Lawrence University as the top assistant to then head coach Mike McShane. During Riley's three seasons in Canton, N.Y., the Saints evolved from a last-place team in the ECAC to an NCAA quarterfinalist in 1982-83, before losing to eventual champion Wisconsin.
Riley's first head coaching position came in 1983-84, when he accepted the top slot at Babson College in Massachusetts. That first year was a magical one for Riley as he became the youngest coach ever to lead a team to the NCAA Division III National Championship. The Beavers defeated Union 8-0 in the title contest, capping a stellar 27-5-1 campaign as the squad set a school record for wins.
In 1984-85, Babson turned in a 22-9 record as Riley was named NCAA College Division "Coach of the Year." Following that season, Riley returned to West Point to assist his father, who was entering the final year of his remarkable tenure at the Academy.
In addition to his coaching duties at West Point, Riley has made a name for himself on the national and international hockey scene. He was an assistant coach for the United States teams that participated in the World University Games in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 1989, and Sapporo, Japan, in 1991. Most recently, Riley was an assistant coach for the East Squad at the 1995 U.S. Olympic Festival.
Riley has also assisted with the direction of the USA Hockey development camps. His summers are filled with directing the popular and highly successful West Point summer hockey camps.
Riley and his wife Deb live at West Point with daughter Sarah, 14, and son Brett, 11.