Stuart Irving

Stuart Keith "Stu" Irving (born February 2, 1949) is an American former professional ice hockey player who played in the International Hockey League (IHL) and American Hockey League (AHL). He also served as an assistant coach at Merrimack College.

After being drafted for the Vietnam War Irving served in the Mekong Delta prior to being assigned to the United States National Team for the 1972 Winter Olympics. He helped the US win an Olympic silver medal.

Later in 2003 he won the Terry Flanagan Award as an assistant at Merrimack.

Playing career

Amateur Irving learned to play hockey on local ponds in Beverly, Massachusetts. He did not play indoor hockey until he was 10 years old. Irving played high school hockey for Beverly High School. Immediately after high school he played in Quebec where he played for a farm team of the Montreal Junior Canadiens. He returned to Massachusetts as a 19-year-old and joined the New England Amateur League. While there he played with Jimmy Logue who was a member of the United States Olympic team in 1964 and 1968. Irving was named to an all-star team that played in an international tournament in Lake Placid, New York. Logue was impressed by Irving's performance at the tournament. Logue told Irving if he was ever interested in playing international hockey to let him know.

Vietnam After the end of the season Irving was drafted in to the Armed Forces for the Vietnam War. He completed his training and was assigned to Vietnam. Irving was given a 30-day leave before being shipped out. During his leave Irving worked out for four hours a day and called Logue daily to find out if there was news on if he had made the team. He was told that he was a possible candidate for the Olympic team. When he returned to Fort Dix Irving had not heard if he had made the team. Prior to being deployed Irving asked his captain if he could check if he would be released to join the US national team. While they checked on his status with the team Irving was sequestered to a holding barracks. After four days he was informed that there was no guarantee he would make the team and only a guarantee would allow him to be released to play for the National Team.

Upon arriving in Vietnam Irving was stationed in a small town 100 miles from Saigon in the Mekong Delta. He was offered his choice of jobs, either a radio operator or mail clerk. Fearing being a radio operator would put him in greater danger Irving chose to be the mail clerk. Despite being in Vietnam Irving still hoped to make the Olympic team and had his father send him hockey pucks and sticks. After serving for nine months the end of his tour of duty approached. He was offered a chance to re-up for another six months. By doing so he would be moved closer to base and away from the heavier fighting he had already experienced. Following his acceptance of the six-month extension Irving continued to stay in shape by playing tennis matches against doctors and military officers on base. In September 1971 Irving was assigned temporary duty to report to Minneapolis, Minnesota to participate in the National team try-outs for the 1972 Olympic team.

United States Olympic Team Irving was able to return to the United States 10 days prior to the try-outs and skated in the New England Amateur League. Irving survived the first rounds of cut in the try-out and joined the team for exhibition play. Irving struggled in the early exhibition games and was being pushed around by bigger players. Because he was assigned to the Olympic team if he were cut he would have to return to Vietnam. Following a game Logue asked Williamson, now the head coach of the Olympic team, about Irving's chances of making the team. Williamson told him Irving was struggling and was not sure if he would make the team, to which Logue replied "what are you going to do-send the kid back to Vietnam? How are you going to feel about that?" Williamson decided to keep Irving around as long as he could. In the medal round the US lost their first game against Sweden. They rebounded to upset Czechoslovakia, before losing the Soviet Union. The Americans won their fourth game or the round robin defeating Finland 4–1. The win put the United States in a position to win a medal. In the American's final game of the Olympics Irving recorded a goal and an assist in a 6–1 win over Poland. In the first game Finland upset Sweden assuring the Americans of a medal. In the gold medal game The USSR defeated Czechoslovakia. The loss by the Czechs gave the American's the silver medal.

Professional After returning to the States Irving joined the Jacksonville Barons of the American Hockey League.

After he retired from professional ice hockey Irving served as an assistant coach at Merrimack College.

Career statistics Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1971–72 United States Olympic Team Intl 52 20 16 36 64 — — — — — 1972–73 Jacksonville Barons AHL 4 1 0 1 11 — — — — — 1972–73 Saginaw Gears IHL 72 35 36 71 74 — — — — — 1973–74 Saginaw Gears IHL 69 25 29 54 63 13 4 7 11 4 1974–75 Saginaw Gears IHL 75 32 44 76 97 19 17 14 31 27 1975–76 Saginaw Gears IHL 78 33 30 63 117 12 4 2 6 15 1976–77 Saginaw Gears IHL 78 23 37 60 57 19 5 7 12 9 1977–78 Saginaw Gears IHL 80 35 44 79 56 5 2 1 3 20 1978–79 Saginaw Gears IHL 71 20 25 45 48 4 0 1 1 16 1979–80 Saginaw Gears IHL 5 1 0 1 9 — — — — — 1979–80 Grand Rapids Owls IHL 59 13 19 32 33 — — — — — 1980–81 Milwaukee Admirals IHL 4 0 1 1 4 — — — — — 1980–81 Muskegon Mohawks IHL 17 5 5 10 19 3 0 2 2 0 1981–82 Muskegon Mohawks IHL 64 15 17 32 67 — — — — — 1982–83 Muskegon Mohawks IHL 2 0 1 1 5 — — — — — IHL totals 674 237 288 525 649 75 32 34 66 91