Former Gopher, 1964 Olympic hockey player Jake McCoy dies

Thomas James "Jake'' McCoy, a former Gophers and Olympic hockey player who also was a longtime coach at Richfield and Minneapolis Washburn high schools, died Friday morning at age 79.

A lifelong south Minneapolis resident, McCoy played hockey and football at DeLaSalle, then played a year of hockey at St. John's before transferring to Minnesota. In three years with the Gophers, one of his highlights was serving as the defensive partner of Lou Nanne in 1962-63, when Nanne became the only defenseman to lead the WCHA in scoring.

McCoy played for the 1964 U.S. Olympic team that finished fifth in Innsbruck, Austria. Among his teammates were Herb and Dave Brooks.

Beginning in 1966, McCoy coached all levels of hockey at Richfield, including the high school varsity team, and was the head coach at Washburn from 1986-90.

McCoy was inducted into the Minnesota Hockey Coaches Hall of Fame in 2008 and received the Cliff Thompson Award from the Minnesota State High School League in 2013 for his contributions to prep hockey.

McCoy is survived by his wife Cathy of more than 50 years, daughters Jeanne and Maggie, son Patrick and five grandchildren.