Woonsocket Radio News Room

National championship-winning coaching staff

joins Mount Saint Charles hockey program

Matt Plante, Devin Rask and Scott Gainey built previous school into national powerhouse

WOONSOCKET, R.I., Aug. 8, 2018 – Three coaches who brought 10 teams to national tournaments and won the 2018 U18 championship are joining the Mount Saint Charles Academy boys hockey program.

Matt Plante, Devin Rask and Scott Gainey will start at the Mount this fall after spending the last seven years building the hockey program at South Kent School Selects Academy in Connecticut into a national power. Plante and Rask have been named co-directors of hockey operations for Mount and will begin building the program August 15th of this year. Plante, Rask, and Gainey will serve as head coaches for teams in the program in the fall of 2019.

The new coaches have decades of combined experience at schools including South Kent, the University of Connecticut, Wesleyan University, Xavier High School in Connecticut, and Hebron Academy in Maine. Plante and Rask played Division 1 college hockey at Quinnipiac University and Providence College and minor league pro hockey in the U.S. and Europe.

Long renowned for its high school ice hockey program, Mount Saint Charles Academy is bringing its brand of hockey to a whole new level with the pursuit of a national title.

“With Matt, Devin and Scott, we’ll be competing for national titles,” said Mount Saint Charles President Alan Tenreiro. “They have proven records of creating winning programs. Most impressively, they want to build a program of integrity that shares Mount’s commitment to the formation of well-rounded students focused on community, academic excellence, service, and building strong moral character.”

Legendary coach Bill Belisle, a member of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame and winner of 31 state championships at Mount, will remain involved with the program as coach emeritus. His son and coaching partner David will also remain in the program in a role yet to be determined by the new co-directors. Successful college coach Peter Belisle has volunteered to advise students regarding college recruitment and will continue to direct summer camps at the arena. Mount alumni and former NHL stars Bryan Berard and Brian Boucher will continue to serve the program, Berard as the director of player development and Boucher as a strategic advisor to hockey operations.  

Plante coached South Kent’s U18 team to the national title at the 2018 USA Hockey National Championship Tournament and the U16 team to a New England District championship in 2016-17. His teams made the tournament in four previous years. From 2012 to 2018, his teams were 300-54-37 for an .815 winning percentage at South Kent. His experience before South Kent includes head coach at Hebron Academy in Maine from 2007-11. He won 82 games, a conference title, and made the New England Prep Small School Tournament every year. Immediately prior to South Kent, Plante was assistant coach of the Indiana Ice of the United States Hockey League.

Rask coached the South Kent U16 team to three national tournament appearances and four New England District championships. Prior to South Kent, Rask was an assistant coach at Providence College, the University of Connecticut and Wesleyan University; and general manager of the Northern Connecticut Wings club team. He was a second-team All American and first-team Hockey East player at Providence College.

Gainey coached South Kent U15 to a national tournament appearance in 2017-18. Before South Kent, he was a scout for junior hockey league teams in the U.S. and Canada and the head coach at Xavier High School in Middletown, Conn. He played college hockey at the Community College of Rhode Island and in the Western Pro Hockey League for the Monroe, La., Mudbugs.

The new coaching staff is the first of several changes in the Mount Saint Charles hockey program that will be announced in the coming weeks.  

“We’re changing to keep pace with the times,” Tenreiro said. “Students and parents have higher expectations for athletic programs. Bringing in national-level coaches shows that we’re committed to developing an outstanding program that gives our students every opportunity to reach their full potential.  At Mount, this will also continue to include creating opportunities for students of all ability levels throughout the athletic program to play just for the love of the sport, because that’s an important part of their development. We’re looking forward to telling the Mount community more in September, when more of the details have been finalized.”