Clovers Hockey Club
The Clovers were originally started in 1973 by Bob O’Connell and the team was comprised mostly of players from South Boston. Led by John Cunniff, Dennis O’Connell, Freddie Ahern, Mike Farina, Paul Barrett, Kevin Coughlin, Billy Curley, John Dunderdale and the first Captain P.J. Flaherty it only took them a few years before they would become widely known as one of the best teams to play for during the summer to prepare yourself for college or your pro career.
The name Clovers originated from the roller hockey team Bob played for when he was growing up in the Yorkville section of New York City in Manhattan’s East Side. The entire O’Connell family migrated to South Boston in 1957 and soon everyone would know about their passion for hockey.
Dan Lynch gave the O’Connell's and the Cunniff's their first opportunity to play amateur hockey and compete against some of the best teams in New England. The Lynchmen became legendary and when Bob later got invited to bring a team into the summer league at Quincy Youth Arena he seized the opportunity and formed the Clovers.
The 70s, 80s and early 90s of the last century were the banner years for the Clovers and they captured numerous summer championships. Soon every elite player in the Greater Boston area and beyond wanted to be a member of the Clovers. The first championship team had a few “outsiders” like Joe Bertagna from Harvard in goal, Charlie Ahearn from BC on defense and Frankie Guest from Quincy at forward. They paved the way for an almost inexhaustible flow of outstanding players who would follow in their footsteps.
Who could ever forget the days when a young Billy O’Dwyer, still in High School, and Jake Danby, an All American at BU led the Clovers to victory at Ridge Arena in Braintree over New York Rangers goaltender Steve Baker in 1978. Soon some of the best players in college hockey would further enhance the Clovers tradition. Everyone who followed the team in the 80s will remember the great teams of Ralph Cox, Bobby Miller and Sean Coady from UNH along with Olympian Dave Silk and Jim Craig from BU and Craig MacTavish from the Edmonton Oilers.
Up and comers Jeremy Roenick and Tony Amonte from Thayer Academy and Brian Noonan from Archbishop Williams played with super star John Cullen from BU and a host of outstanding goalies like Jimmy Campbell, Tim O’Connell and Bob Deraney continued to backstop the Clovers to victory year after year. The Clovers may have been the favorites but it was not an easy road to any championship summer.
Dave Livingston can attest it was probably easier being a Freshman at BC than it was playing for the Clovers against the Bruins team coached by the legendary Joe Lyons. Dave had to face a team that would have terrorized the 2011 Stanley Cup Champs as Jay Miller, Boston Bruins, Nick Fotiu, New York Rangers and Steve Rooney, Montreal Canadiens were all hard nosed players that hated to lose and they had Cleon Daskalakis in the nets. However, he had the choice of playing against these guys with courage or receiving the wrath of his team mates Sean Coady and Chris Nilan if he didn’t. Of course he played with the same spirit of all the Clovers and went on to an outstanding career at Boston College and in Europe.
There were numerous Clovers who continued their careers in both college and the pros. Guys like Mike Barron, Dom Campedelli and Scott Harlow were stars at BC as well as Duncan Finch from NU. However, the competition was just as good and so many of these competitors played in the NHL and some of them were Stanley Cup Champions.
First and foremost was Joey Mullen who like Roenick scored 500 goals in the NHL but also played for Calgary and Pittsburgh when they won the Cup and now is a member of the NHL Hall of Fame. Kevin Stevens won two Cups and Scott Young and Sean McEachern hoisted the Cup too. Steve Rooney won a Cup with Montreal as did Clovers Chris Nilan with Montreal, Brian Noonan with the New York Rangers and Craig MacTavish who won a few with Edmonton and the New York Rangers.
In addition to the Bruins team the Clovers faced enormous competition from the Islanders who were coached by Rich Green, a former All-American at BU and Scout for the New York Islanders during their Cup years. Their roster looked like an NHL All Star team and was led by Kevin Stevens, Bob and Tim Sweeney, Neil Shea and backstopped by Scott Gordon, all from Boston College. Add Don Sweeney from Harvard and Tom Fitzgerald from Providence College and it easy to see that victories came through hard fought games every week throughout the summer.
The movie “Miracle on Ice” featured Ralph Cox who was the last forward cut from the Gold Medal 1980 Olympic team. Both he and Jack Hughes, who was the last defenseman cut, joined the Clovers that summer along with Jack’s brother George who was an outstanding center at Harvard.
(not a slight on anyone else on the 1980 team, but we feel the cuts of these great Clovers were made in error)
Who can ever forget Garnet “Ace” Bailey who coached for several years and his burning desire to win that made his team one of the best with the likes of Mark Kumpel, a former Olympian and one of the best skaters to ever take the ice. Ace was a true gentleman and as I was reminded by his good friend Red Fleming, a Scout for the Quebec Nordiques, he was “The Ace” for those who knew him well.
All in all, a fantastic journey for the Clovers that to this day brings back fond memories for them at a time when hockey was just fun and less of a business as it is today.
There are many, many more Clover names that are not mentioned above so if you played on one of the Clover's teams or know someone that did please share the details with us, because we would love to add the names and photos to the site.
Any photos and stories you can share are greatly appreciated!
There are many, many more Clover names that are not mentioned above so if you played on one of the Clover's teams or know someone that did please share the details with us, because we would love to add the names and photos to the site.
Any photos and stories you can share are greatly appreciated!
