Quick Facts
Biography
Jim Cross is a retired American ice hockey player and coach who led Vermont for nineteen seasons.
Playing career
Cross graduated from Boston University in 1960, having played ice hockey for the Terriers for two seasons. In his senior year, he helped the team record a third place finish at the 1960 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament. While at BU, Cross played collegiate summer baseball with the Dennis Clippers of the Cape Cod Baseball League.
Coaching career
After graduating from BU, Cross became the director of physical education at Lyman C. Hunt School, a position he held for four years before accepting the head coaching position at nearby Vermont. Cross joined the program in only its third year of existence and took a few years to get the team going in the right direction. in 1970 Cross won his first ECAC 2 tournament title but didn't participate in the national tournament because the Division II championship didn't start until 1978. After two more good seasons Cross's teams won back-to-back ECAC II titles, and went undefeated in conference play in 1973, earning Cross the Edward Jeremiah Award that year.
In 1974 Vermont promoted their program to Division I and were immediately accepted into ECAC Hockey. The Catamounts surprised just about everyone by finishing the season with a 24–12 record and a 3rd-place finish in the conference. For good measure the team also finished third in the ECAC tournament. After that great start, however, Vermont declined to middling records for four years before winning an ECAC West divisional title in 1980. That was the last bit of success Cross would have with the program and over his final four years the Catamounts finished no higher than 12th in the conference and in 1984 he resigned, saying "...I want to step aside before I get to the burnout stage."
Cross remained with the University of Vermont until his retirement in 1994 and two years later was inducted into the University of Vermont Athletic Hall of Fame.
College Head coaching record[8]
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vermont Catamounts (ECAC 2) | |||||||||
| 1965–66 | Vermont | 8–11–0 | 8–7–0 | ||||||
| 1966–67 | Vermont | 5–14–0 | 4–9–0 | ||||||
| 1967–68 | Vermont | 12–11–0 | 12–6–0 | ECAC West Semifinals | |||||
| 1968–69 | Vermont | 13–12–0 | 11–8–0 | ||||||
| 1969–70 | Vermont | 16–8–0 | 14–4–0 | ECAC II Champion | |||||
| 1970–71 | Vermont | 17–9–0 | 14–4–0 | ECAC II Runner-Up | |||||
| 1971–72 | Vermont | 17–7–2 | 13–3–1 | ECAC II Semifinals | |||||
| 1972–73 | Vermont | 24–7–0 | 19–0–0 | 1st | ECAC II Champion | ||||
| 1973–74 | Vermont | 28–5–0 | 18–1–0 | 1st | ECAC II Champion | ||||
| Vermont: | 140–84–2 | 113–42–1 | |||||||
| Vermont Catamounts (ECAC Hockey) | |||||||||
| 1974–75 | Vermont | 24–12–0 | 12–5–0 | 3rd | ECAC Third Place Game (Win) | ||||
| 1975–76 | Vermont | 15–16–1 | 9–13–0 | 11th | |||||
| 1976–77 | Vermont | 15–15–0 | 10–13–0 | 11th | |||||
| 1977–78 | Vermont | 15–16–0 | 9–14–0 | T–11th | |||||
| 1978–79 | Vermont | 12–18–0 | 11–10–0 | 8th | ECAC Quarterfinals | ||||
| 1979–80 | Vermont | 23–12–0 | 16–7–0 | 4th | ECAC Quarterfinals | ||||
| 1980–81 | Vermont | 9–23–2 | 4–16–2 | 16th | |||||
| 1981–82 | Vermont | 11–16–2 | 8–12–2 | 12th | |||||
| 1982–83 | Vermont | 6–21–1 | 3–16–1 | 15th | |||||
| 1983–84 | Vermont | 10–18–1 | 6–13–1 | 14th | |||||
| Vermont: | 140–167–7 | 88–119–6 | |||||||
| Total: | 280–251–9 | ||||||||
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