David Petrin’s years of devotion to coaching youth baseball and all levels of hockey will never be forgotten locally.
The former longtime Greenfield High School assistant hockey coach and one-time head coach was a fixture at Collins-Moylan Arena before his Sept. 1, 1992 death, but his legacy lives on nearly a quarter-century later.
On Feb. 11, Collins-Moylan Arean will play host to the 25th anniversary of the David M. Petrin Memorial GHS Alumni Hockey Game.
After several years of using the alumni versus GHS varsity format, organizers have opted to switch back to a full alumni game. The move was made primarily to include as many alums as possible.
In addition, the game has served as a fundraiser for the David M. Petrin Memorial Scholarship for graduating seniors of the hockey program. A total of $34,250 in total scholarship money has been given to 80 recipients since the inception of the event.
Boots Roth, a longtime area figure-skating coach, came up with the idea of an alumni game dedicated to Petrin when she was brainstorming for additional events to add to the annual Winter Carnival. She and GHS hockey alum John Richardson helped put together the inaugural alumni event in Petrin’s memory in 1993.
Before they finalized it, they contacted David’s brother, Larry, to get the family’s blessing.
“I thought it was a terrific idea,” said Larry, also a former GHS assistant coach. “I really appreciated that they wanted to do that. Originally, we tried to put together a scholarship in his name, and this just fit together well.”
In addition to coaching many teams and becoming a mentor to area youth, Petrin was a talented watercolorist and a member of the Deerfield Valley Arts Association.
“Dave was so outgoing and warm-hearted and had a way of touching the lives of everyone around him,” said Shannon Petrin, Larry’s daughter-in-law.
The Petrin family, which helps organize and stage the annual event, will also conduct a series of raffles during the evening as well as a silent auction.
Among the available silent-auction items are a New Jersey Devils shirt signed by goaltender and Massachusetts native Cory Schneider; a Boston Bruins hockey stick signed by this season’s players; and items from the AHL and J&J hockey.
In addition, one of Petrin’s paintings will be raffle off.
Petrin filled in as interim coach for Ralph Collins during the remainder of the 1983-84 season after Collins was sidelined due to surgery. Then he was hired as head coach for the 1987-88 campaign. He led the Green Wave to a 13-18-1 record in his tenure. He returned as an assistant coach for four more seasons before his tragic passing.