John Gardner had well over 800 wins at Avon Old Farms. (Seshu Badrinath)
Longtime Avon Old Farms head coach John Gardner died Saturday morning, according to the school. He was 73 years old.
Gardner was the head coach of Avon Old Farms from 1975 to 2024. He finished with 867 wins, with his 800th coming on Dec. 1, 2021, against Williston Northampton.
In 2023, the Winged Beavers won the Elite 8 championship over Cushing, which was his ninth New England championship.
Gardner became the head coach at Avon after three years as Wesleyan’s starting goalie. He also played baseball at Wesleyan.
In his career as the boss at Avon Old Farms, Gardner coached countless future NHL players, Division 1 players and Division 3 college hockey players.