Men's Ice Hockey Head Coach Rand Pecknold Releases "Hard Core Hockey"

Quinnipiac University men's ice hockey head coach Rand Pecknold has announced the release of his instructional youth hockey book, "Hard Core Hockey." Pecknold and Aaron Foeste co-authored the book, which was published by McGraw-Hill Publishers and is available for purchase at amazon.com.

"Hard Core Hockey" is an all-in-one guide to playing high-caliber hockey from a veritable who's who of the sport's top coaches. The book includes instruction on advanced skating, stick-handling and collegiate-level systems, as well as several effective practice drills. The book also features contributions from Ted Donato, former NHL player and current head coach of the Harvard University men's hockey team, and Frank Serratore, head coach of the United States Air Force Academy men's hockey team.

Pecknold has served as the Quinnipiac men's hockey head coach for the past 15 years and was instrumental in the Bobcats' transition to the Division I ranks. During his career he has developed Quinnipiac into one of the nation's top college hockey programs. Quinnipiac is among the top five schools in the country for wins and winning percentage over the past 10 years, and has often appeared in the national polls since joining ECAC Hockey for the 2005-06 season. Pecknold has earned more than 275 victories over his coaching career - all at Quinnipiac - and has won 20 games in nine of the Bobcats' 10 years in Division I hockey. The longest tenured and all-time winningest coach in Quinnipiac men's ice hockey history, Pecknold was a two-time Spencer Penrose Award finalist - in 2002 and 2005 - given to the National Coach of the Year.

In addition to his team's overall success, Quinnipiac athletes have enjoyed individual success under Pecknold's guidance. Pecknold has coached five conference Players of the Year and five conference Rookies of the Year. Pecknold has also coached four All-Americans and two Hobey Baker Memorial Award candidates, including one Top-10 Finalist. He has also coached 21 all-conference team selections and 84 all-academic team honorees.