Franklin Pierce University announced the sudden and unexpected loss of Bruce Marshall, head men’s ice hockey coach, who passed away in his sleep early Saturday morning. Marshall was 54.
No cause of death has been announced, pending an autopsy in the coming week. Details regarding memorial plans and the selection of Marshall’s successor at Franklin Pierce will be announced as they become available and as deemed appropriate.
Born July 23, 1962 in West Boylston, Mass., Marshall went on to become a Connecticut hockey institution before ever making his way to New Hampshire. A 1985 graduate of the University of Connecticut, Marshall returned to his alma mater in 1988 as the third head coach in program history. Taking over a program which was a Division III also-ran and played in an open-air ice rink in rural Connecticut, Marshall used the next 25 years to transition the Huskies to a Division I program with a permanent, 2,000-seat, on-campus rink, which was on the verge of Hockey East membership.
Marshall was either present for, or laid the groundwork for, nearly every important first in program history at Connecticut. In his fourth year as head coach, in 1991-92, he posted the school’s first 20-win season (22-4-2). From 1989-90 through 1995-96, Marshall oversaw a run of seven straight years of 15 wins or more, which was unprecedented in program annals. In 1998-99, he would lead the Huskies to 20 wins (20-10-4) in their inaugural Division I campaign, and then proceeded to skipper the squad to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title a year later.
On May 21, 2015, he would be named the fourth head coach in the history of the Franklin Pierce men’s ice hockey program.