February 13, 2016 – On a February evening with temperatures below zero outside and only a few degrees above zero inside, the Pop Whalen Ice Arena somehow seemed like a fitting, if not freezing, location to induct the newest member of Brewster’s Athletic Hall of Fame. The evening celebrated a young man who travelled from his own chilly climate north of the border to allow the Brewster community to celebrate his accomplishments both at Brewster and beyond.
Dennis McNally came to Brewster from Souris, Prince Edward Island, in fall 1998 to join the Class of 2000 as a junior. Before he would graduate, Dennis would leave his mark on the Academy, becoming a two-year, three-season athlete, captaining the boys’ soccer, hockey, and lacrosse teams in his senior year, and at graduation receiving the Athletic Director’s Prize and the school’s highest honor: the Arthur M. Hurlin Award.
Our good friend and devoted Bobcat had quite an impact here at Brewster and had a memorable senior year right here in this rink, noted Athletic Director Matt Lawlor during his on-ice introduction of Dennis following a boys’ varsity hockey game. He described how in just two years, Dennis became known as a prolific playmaker throughout New England, advancing the Bobcats to the Division II finals of the New England tournament, and finishing his Brewster hockey career with 87 points.
According to then coach TJ Palmer, “Dennis was a tremendous player for our hockey team in those two years. He was a fantastic leader and was able to get his peers to follow on one of the best hockey teams we’ve had here at BA. I was incredibly proud and honored to coach Dennis, and he is very deserving of this recognition.”
After Brewster, Dennis took his athletic and academic talents to Manhattanville College where he played hockey and lacrosse. During his senior year, he was team captain for the Valiant hockey team and was named MVP of the men’s lacrosse team. He graduated in spring 2004, magna cum laude, with a double major in management and political science.
He would return to Manhattanville two years later to earn a master’s degree in management and strategic leadership and to become the assistant coach of the men’s hockey team. During his coaching tenure, his teams earned consecutive Division III NCAA berths, including a final four appearance in 2007.
With his master’s degree, he went to work for Irving Oil as an accountant and then returned to Souris, PEI, and founded Red Beard Shellfish Company, where he cultivates premium choice Fortune Bay oysters and fishes for lobster.
Dennis continues to play hockey, and when he can, coaches young hockey camps. He’s thinking maybe next winter he will introduce his now 3-month-old son Warren Patrick to the ice, if only in his arms until he’s steady on his toddler feet.
“I’m honored to share the company of the other hall of famers, the likes of Bill Pottle and the namesake of this arena, Pop Whalen, who have all contributed much to the culture and the sport of Brewster Academy,” Dennis said.
Dennis’ remarks centered around passion and community. “My introduction to Brewster Academy was founded on passion. Passion for this game, which I shared equally with TJ Palmer when we met in Fredricton, New Brunswick, 12 hours north, which eventually led to my enrollment in Brewster Academy where I was surrounded by more passionate people.”
Among those he referenced were former boys’ assistant hockey coach Marty Bilafer, in attendance, as well as former BA hockey and soccer coach, Patrick Bruno, and Dennis’ lacrosse coach Bill Pottle.
“Brewster Academy provides a tremendous platform for students to pursue their passions. I was fortunate enough to take advantage of that, and I thank the community at large of Brewster Academy for everything they have done for me, for my teammates, for the current student body, and for the alumni.”
This induction had him reflecting and reminiscing on all the good times he shared at Brewster and of the numerous great experiences that each sport provided.
“I remember learning what it was like to play as a team. In the fall playing soccer we beat our rivals New Hampton based on a team effort. I know learning the feeling of success, winning consecutive Groton tournaments, Christmas tournaments, and the dramatic story line of our run to the finals where David Smith, the headmaster, granted a headmaster’s day, and the whole school came out to support the team, and we had a 1-0 overtime win. … Timmy Mac, who is here today, had the shutout.”
He acknowledged that these learning experiences don’t all come from the field or the ice. He noted that at least once his teammates had to wait for him as he was led away to U.S. Customs at the border because he had forgotten his passport.
“There are so many great experiences and I want to thank the community, the institution of Brewster, the Palmer family who took me into their house the first year, and Mr. Mann, who is here tonight, and who guided a foreign strawberry picking man from PEI through Brewster Academy and showed me that homework was the way to graduation, not sports.
“I think when we talk about passion and the greatness of BA … It would be a miss not to mention someone who epitomized passion for life. I had a teammate – Kirk Walsh ‘00 – and everybody who passed Kirk’s path always left with a smile; he was passionate, always positive, and everybody who knew him was better off for knowing him. … That’s what Brewster really gives you … the people you come across during your time here and that’s what you really remember. … in Kirk’s passing, his positivity is now our torch to carry.
“They are not here, but I’d like to thank my parents … for all the times when the checkbook said no and they found a way to say yes. I want to thank my siblings for letting a little fellow, the younger brother, follow along and play when I probably shouldn’t have been playing with them. I want to thank my teammates. Equal to this honor of being inducted is the honor of being able to call the members of my hockey team, my soccer team, my lacrosse team – teammates – and equal to that honor still is my ability to call them – friends – and I’m thankful forever for that.”
The Brewster Academy Athletic Hall of Fame was founded to honor those men and women who distinguish themselves as outstanding contributors to athletics while at the Academy and who also have continued to exemplify the core values of the Brewster Principle of Respect, Integrity, and Service in their personal and professional lives. Since 2001, 10 individuals and three teams have been inducted.
