Legendary hockey coach John Maguire announces retirement

A lot has changed in Waltham over the last 40 years,  but there has been one thing local residents could rely on seeing when they looked beyond the bench at Waltham High School boys hockey games — Coach John Maguire. 

Maguire was a constant force at the helm of the Hawks hockey team, maintaining a reliable tradition of hard work and leadership over a legendary tenure. The 2022-23 MIAA Coach of the Year announced his plans to retire in a social media post after Waltham was bounced from the state tournament by the St. Mary’s School in Lynn.

“I’m sad that his coaching is coming to an end because he really was so great,” Waltham High athletic director Steve LaForest said. “Before I was AD, and just another coach, he was always someone that you looked up to and thought, ‘How did he build the program and keep it so successful?’ Then, you tried to go out and do those things.”

Maguire was a phenomenal role model for the other coaches in the organization. His teams brought a consistent level of mettle and toughness to the ice and Maguire had a keen skill of putting athletes in the right place to succeed.

This acumen was placed on full display in the 2024-25 season. The Hawks entered the campaign without a goaltender in place. Maguire relied on the input of his senior leaders and took the chance on putting sophomore Garo Gebeyan, younger brother of alternate captain Shant Gebeyan, in net.

Garo had never even tried the position before and spent the previous year playing a defenseman role on the junior varsity squad. Maguire decided to let the student run with the opportunity, however, and the ambitious Gebeyan took off. He helped guide the Hawks to a 14-6 regular season record and made 30 saves in the postseason tilt.

“Maguire’s commitment that people don’t really see — the 6 a.m. workouts in the summertime up at the high school and on the fields, working with the kids to make sure they are getting stronger and improving their conditioning — it is things like that,” LaForest said. “He would always be willing to do whatever it took to help the kids get better. If they were going to be there, he made sure he was there as well.”

Maguire departs having brought the team to two MIAA state title wins in 2002 and 2018, respectively.

“It was the icing on the cake for all of the work the students and coaches had put in,” LaForest said about the 2018 run. “They had some really good players who were great teammates along with great coaching. Everything fell their way and it was a great ride. The response from the city and the support they received showed how much Coach Maguire has meant to the community. I remember seeing a sea of red at the TD Garden and I just knew the players were going to have the energy.”