Mighty Blue Wave
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Hope High School was Rhode Island's first schoolboy hockey dynasty. They won an impressive 13 championships (also the only four Ice Polo championships in the 1899-1902 seasons). Called Hope Street High School in the beginning, the Blue Wave won eight titles in the first fifteen years of the Interscholastic League (1903, 1904, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1918 and 1919) including six in nine years. They won the State Championship in 1936. In the 1940-41 season the city of Providence instituted an "all-daylight" athletic program necessitating the withdrawal of Providence high schools from the Interscholastic League. Hope maintained an unbeaten, unscored-on record to win the title against Central, Classical and Mount Pleasant in the newly formed City League. They returned to the Interscholastic league in 1941-42 and remained competitive (finishing runner-up several times) finally winning again in 1955-56. Strong Hope teams followed in the early 1960s as they won the championship again in 1959-60 and 1960-61. Their last championship came in 1973-74 while playing in the Suburban Division. Sadly, the program was ended after the 1980-81 season. Star players included amateur star and referee Jimmy Hart '19, US National team member George "Pud" Quirk '32, Michigan Tech All-American Bob Monahan '47, Brown defensemen Bobby Borah '51, NHL trainer Tommy Woodcock '53, all-state goalie Mike Sears '61, Boston College forward Jimmy Mullen '60, Brown All-American Bob Gaudreau '61 and Eastern Hockey League star forward Billy Christodal '63.
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