Ever since Anthony “Butch” Martucci took over the Winthrop High girls hockey program 14 years ago, the successes have been non-stop.
Undefeated seasons. League championships. Perennial state title contenders. Record-setting individual achievements. Prep-school, college- bound, and even professional players such as goaltender Katie Burt who made her varsity debut for Winthrop.
Winthrop bench for 200 victories over 14 seasons.
Last Saturday, Butch Martucci put his name in the all-time WHS record books by earning his 200th career coaching victory in a 6-1 decision over Medford at the Larsen Rink at the Mike Eruzione Center.
“It’s a great feeling – it’s been a lot of years,” said Martucci, when asked about Win. No. 200 of his amazing coaching career. “The atmosphere was great at the rink. There were balloons and posters that said, ‘200 Wins” on it. It was really cool.”
When you look at the body of work – 200 wins in 14 seasons, it’s very impressive. The winning percentage of Martucci’s teams is likely the best in school history.
Notably, Martucci, who coached a lot of his high school players at the Winthrop Youth Hockey level as well, turned the attention to the people around him.
“It’s been my players, it has nothing do with me,” he jested. “Seriously, we’ve very blessed with the players. The girls go out and work so hard for the program. The key ingredient to success is having really good players.”
Martucci specifically credited coach Chris Palmer, who has been a Viking assistant for the entire 14-year tenure.
“We’ve been together since Day 1. He’s been with me for all these wins, so I share this honor with him,” said Martucci. “When I first started, I had Kevin McKinnon with me, who’s a great coach (Kevin’s daughter, Caroline, is currently an assistant on the Winthrop staff). And we had Sandra Cambria, who was the goaltender coach. That’s how we began, with those four coaches.”
Martucci has also benefited from the on-ice accomplishments of his two daughters – alumna and captain Mia Martucci was a 100-point scorer for Winthrop; junior Talia Martucci is leading the current team in scoring this season and has 95 career points – who have been phenomenal players in the Vikings’ program. Martucci coached his daughters for years in the Winthrop Youth Hockey organization before they joined him in the high school program. Martucci’s wife, Tracey (Gigliello) Martucci, is a Winthrop High Hall of Fame inductee.
Amelia Spencer scored two goals in the milestone victory over Medford. Talia Martucci, Hannah Parker, Izzy Cash, and Tegan Pereira also had goals versus the Mustangs.
Butch Martucci started playing hockey when he was eight years old. He played on the varsity at Winthrop High for head coach Tom Holmen. “He’s an absolute gentleman and a very good guy. I had a lot of fun playing hockey for him,” said Martucci.
He was an offensive lineman on the 1992 Super Bowl team coached by Tony Fucillo. He was the second member of his family to attain Super Bowl glory.
“My brother, Gus (a starting center on the 1981 state champion Vikings) has been my idol since I was a kid,” said Butch. “I’ve always looked up to him, and I still do now.”