By Cary Shuman
They came from all walks of life to pay a final tribute to James E. McAdam, a beloved high school and college ice hockey coach and former Everett Police officer.
Affectionately known as “Coach” McAdam, he excelled in two distinct arenas of the coaching profession: at Austin Preparatory High School in Reading, where he led the Cougars to an MIAA state championship, and at Bentley University where he became the winningest coach in school history with more than 100 victories and propelled the program onto Division 1 play. Coach James McAdam, individually, and his 1989 state title team are inductees in the Austin Prep Athletic Hall of Fame.
Austin Prep recognized Mr. McAdam’s majestic career at the school with the presence of its varsity hockey players attired in their AP hockey jerseys at the funeral mass at St. Goretti Church in Lynnfield. Sean McAdam, Mr. McAdam’s proud son, said he was touched by the warm-hearted gesture and personally contacted the AP administration to say how much he appreciated their kindness.
Sean McAdam delivered a beautiful eulogy at the funeral Mass that reflected on his father’s life as a devoted husband, father, and grandfather, as a highly respected coach and mentor who affected so many of his former players’ lives in a positive way, as an adventurous person who became a proficient skier and scuba diver, and as an officer in the Everett Police Department where he had a distinguished 16-year career.
“This [police work] was his proudest profession, and although he had relatively short career, he always considered himself a cop,” Sean told the assemblage at the church. “But coaching was his passion after he retired from the police department, for sure.”
And though Mr. McAdam and his family lived in Lynnfield for many years, he always considered himself “an Everett guy.”
“They [James McAdam and Marie Barisano] shared a remarkable story from growing up in Everett, getting married at the ages of 19 and 21, starting a family and moving to Lynnfield in 1975 and traveling Europe in the 1980s,” said Sean. “He lived in Lynnfield for 40 years, but he still said he was from Everett.”
“Family was always the most important thing to my dad,” said Sean.
In a respectful nod to Mr. McAdam’s Irish heritage, at the cemetery, Kyle McAdam, 29, one of Mr. McAdam’s three grandchildren (Danielle and Liam are the others) and an outstanding vocalist, provided an amazing moment.
“Kyle sang, “Danny Boy,” which was my dad’s request,” said Sean McAdam. “It was pretty emotional.”
Mr. McAdam loved his grandchildren dearly, attending “all of Kyle’s plays and theater activities, Danielle’s field hockey games at Holy Cross where she was a captain, and Liam’s high school games at North Andover, where he was a hockey captain,” according to Sean McAdam.
“I don’t think he ever missed a game,” said Sean, while noting that it was his father, James E. McAdam, who started the Everett Youth Hockey Mite Program.
Tributes from former players
Two of those players fortunate to have been graced by Mr. McAdam’s coaching at Austin Prep were teammates from the Class of 1989, Chris Scouletis and Dave Pasquale.
Sean McAdam read the tribute from Scouletis, an assistant hockey coach at Stoneham High School, at the funeral.
“Jim McAdam treated me like a son from the first day I ever met him,” wrote Scouletis. “He always told me like it was and mentored me during years that shaped my whole life. His care, compassion, guidance and accountability (did I mention patience) made me understand that God does put angels on earth to help people who need it.
“Thank you, Coach McAdam. You are a person I truly admire, love, and aspire to be like every day. You are the reason why kids call me, ‘Coach.’ You were one of those angels in my life. Until we meet again. Go see Marie, Coach, she’s been waiting.”
Dave Pasquale, a former Austin Prep and Bentley hockey star, traveled from North Carolina to be at the memorial observances.
“It was a great sendoff for Coach – the family did an incredible job,” said Pasquale.
Pasquale, who had an immensely successful career in business and later became the head hockey coach at Wake Forest University, a prestigious school that competes in the Atlantic Coast Collegiate Hockey League, spoke about Mr. McAdam’s positive influence on his life.
Pasquale competed for Coach McAdam for four years in the Austin Prep program and later for one season at Bentley.
“We were figuring out with his son, Sean, last week – to make me feel old – that I’ve known “Coach” for 40 years,” said Pasquale. “It’s hard for me to believe that I’ve turned 55, and I met him when I was 15 years old.”
Pasquale said Coach McAdam piloted Austin Prep to the state championship in 1989.
“I was one of the assistant captains,” said Pasquale, who was an accomplished player and a co-state scoring champion that season. “We beat Springfield Cathedral in the finals and [Division 1 powerhouse] Matignon in the semifinals, which was probably our better athletic accomplishment. We had a rivalry with Matignon back then was crazy. Each school won two state titles during my four years at Austin Prep.”
Pasquale said what he admired most about Coach McAdam was that he held his players “personally accountable for their actions and he was loyal.”
“The one thing we always say about “Coach” was that he was loyal to anybody that ever played hockey for him, but you had to earn the loyalty,” said Pasquale. “You had to be accountable and act in certain ways. I remember my freshman year, a kid came to practice wearing a Budweiser tee shirt under his equipment. Coach said, ‘No go. Take the tee shirt off. That doesn’t represent the program.’ He was the first coach that was hard on you, but he wanted to hug you and complement you when you played well. He was so invested not just im the team, but each kid and the families. He was just a really good balance. That’s why I built a 40-year friendship with him.”
Pasquale said Coach McAdam stressed the importance of hard work in all endeavors. “Coach wanted all of us to be personally accountable and from that point to work hard, and the rest of it would probably fall into place. If you’re doing those two things well enough, the way Coach wanted it to be done, you were going to be successful in life.”
Pasquale said Mr. McAdam was innovative in his coaching methods, with some practices consisting of “non-puck” conditioning workouts.
“You just skated for 40 minutes and you’re not so happy, and what’s the first thing Coach does after practice? He pulls out a cooler with ice cold Coca-Colas. He would say, ‘Great job, guys, that’s how you work hard.”
Pasquale has fond memories of his hockey season at Bentley under Mr. McAdam’s tutelage.
“We had a great year. Coach completely turned the program around,” recalled Pasquale, who broke the single-season school assist record as a senior. “We qualified for the ECAC Tournament which hadn’t been done in 15 years. Coach was competitive and started to do more recruiting of players, and he took the program into Division 1 with a school that was playing its home games at the Watertown Rink.”
Pasquale said through his coaching, Mr. McAdam set the foundation to his life and career.
“A thousand percent he helped me with the positive values that he taught me and my parents taught me,” said Pasquale, who received his degree in marketing and management, started his own business at the age of 25, and built a highly successful IT consulting business, selling it at the age of 31.
Pasquale moved to North Carolina and became the head coach at Wake Forest where he led the program for eight years.
“I would call Coach and talk to him about drills and about players,” said Pasquale. “I would lean on him for coaching advice.”
Pasquale remembered that Scott Fitzgerald of the “historic, Fitzgerald family” was coached by Mr. McAdam for three years at Austin Prep and he is now the director of player personnel for the NHL’s San Jose Sharks.
“Coach put a lot of players into Division 1 hockey,” said Pasquale.
Sean McAdam concluded his eulogy, saying, “My dad was a special person. He had a full and wonderful life. And last Thursday, he was with those who meant the most to him. My sister, Lisa, and I were with him. And my wife, Mary Ellen, who treated my dad like her own father. And his grandchildren, Kyle, Danielle, and Liam, whom he loved more than any words can describe.”
And as Scott had told the assemblage at the church, “Oh, what a life he had.”
Bob Trieger has
fond memories
Prominent boxing publicist and journalist Bob Trieger shared a love of sports with his brother-in-law, James E. McAdam. Mr. Trieger is married to Mr. McAdam’s sister, Terry.
In Mr. McAdam’s later years, Trieger would often meet with him for lunch and conversations.
“Bob would take my dad to lunch and to the movies and make the trek to North Andover to visit him,” said Sean McAdam. “They were pretty close for brothers-in-law.”
“Jimmy was the big brother I never had for four decades,” said Trieger. “Jimmy was my big brother for 40 years, filling that role perfectly.”