Sheehy carries on hockey coaching legacy for Red Rangers

“The team and I will continue to honor
(Dave O’Hearn’s) legacy every day, on and off the ice.”

~ Red Rangers girls’ hockey interim head coach Ryan Sheehy

 

As he takes over as interim head coach of the Methuen/Tewksbury Red Rangers girls’ hockey team, Ryan Sheehy knows the depth of succession. Sheehy served as an assistant to Dave O’Hearn, who passed away July 29, 2025, after a long and courageous battle with pancreatic cancer.

As someone who shared the bench with O’Hearn, Sheehy is well aware of his impact.

“Dave had the ability to reach everyone he met on a personal level and found a way to relate and connect to them. He always made sure to make his point known, respect others’ opinions and provide constructive feedback and engage in respectful conversation,” Sheehy said.

Sheehy sums up O’Hearn’s selfless personality perfectly saying, “He never liked to take credit for anything or talk about himself. He wanted to make sure everyone else felt valued and heard. He gave credit to our players and assistant coaches. Dave was never one to brag about his accomplishments.”

When it came to interacting with players, Sheehy marvels at O’Hearn’s style.

He relates, “He knew how to tell them the hard truths and, in the same breath, boost them up with words of encouragement. Whenever he noticed a player in a slump, he would give a little pregame pep talk individually. He loved his players and always showed them respect.”

Bittersweet accurately describes Sheehy’s view of his ascension to the interim head coaching job.

“As I told the girls already, I have mixed emotions. It is a huge honor for me to be able to coach this club and I’m thankful for that,” he said. “We are a skilled and driven team and it is so fun to be around this group of girls. We have such a great group with awesome families and fans, but at the same time I know I’m here because we lost my friend and our Coach Dave. We miss him so much.”

So what type of coaching style will Sheehy bring to the job?

He responds, “I feel as though my coaching style is similar to Dave’s. I am passionate and I know the game. I have high expectations for my athletes, but I am also patient. I make sure to tell them what they need to fix, but in a way that doesn’t belittle them or embarrass them. I make sure to celebrate them as well.”

Sheehy is thankful for his time as an assistant with this championship-level program: “Being an assistant to Sarah Doucette and then to Dave over the course of the last four years has given me a chance to see what it’s like to coach at this level and have success in doing so.

“They both were so good at it, and it showed on and off the ice. Being an assistant allowed me to see how to be successful in coaching girls’ hockey in the best league in the state and in the top division. It also allowed me to build strong coach-to-athlete relationships with the girls. In turn, they know me as well, which gives us a level of comfort so we can get right down to work and not have to build those relationships from scratch. I know that we have a strong team already and look forward to what we can put on the ice this year.”

Sheehy talks about the makeup of his 2025-26 team: “It’s always tough losing seniors and we had some great ones that graduated. Bree and Liv Lawrence, MJ Petisce, and Sarah Doherty were solid players and even better people to have on this team. They are exactly the kind of kids that every coach wants on their team, and we thank them for that.

“This upcoming season, we expect to be right where we were last year and go further. With the girls we currently have from last year and with the anticipated class that is coming up, I expect to be very competitive again this year. We may be a young team this year, but we don’t lack experience. I have the utmost confidence in this team.”

Just as Sheehy was with O’Hearn side-by-side coaching, he knows that the legacy of O’Hearn will be alongside him this season.

“He was my role model and friend, and I couldn’t thank him enough for bringing me along with him and Sarah in my first year. He knew we could be successful, but we definitely worked for it, both on and off the ice,” he said. “To me, Dave’s passion and knowledge of the game was unmeasured and the way he cared for our athletes on and off the ice is something that I will always admire. The team and I will continue to honor his legacy every day, on and off the ice.”

O’Hearn‘s legacy will not only be with Sheehy, but with the players on the Red Rangers. The new interim head coach talks about his first meeting with his players.

“Meeting with the team for the first time was certainly difficult,” relates Sheehy. “Shortly after we found out Dave had passed, we all got together. We didn’t talk about anything really. It was just to be together during a very difficult time.

“When Dave passed, we were all together at the wake and funeral. A little while later, we met to discuss moving forward. It was clear to us that even though Coach Dave would physically not be with us, he would never leave our hearts and minds.”

The Methuen/Tewksbury Red Rangers hockey program has developed into one of the best in Massachusetts. Sheehy knows that this is not a team that rebuilds. The standard is set, and he accepts it: “It’s going to be hard work to top the success we had the last few years, but I have full confidence that we can get right back to the Final 4 and even to the TD Garden.

“I don’t see anything that we have to fix on this team. Obviously, there are things we can all work on, and it’s no secret that we didn’t score a lot of goals last year, but we don’t let up a lot of goals either. This year we are going to put an emphasis on scoring.”

In this program, one emphasis that never changes is leadership. Sheehy knows that he’s got some good ones on this year‘s team. He states, “I’m a firm believer that you don’t need a letter on your jersey to be a leader and know that we have several leaders on this team. Although we don’t have a lot of seniors on the team this year, we have several girls who have already played for us for four years. That being said, our captains for this year are Lydia Barnes, Ella Duffy and Sammy Ryan.”

In addition to these frontline players, Sheehy will also rely on his assistant coach this season. He talks about his new bench mate.
“I am super excited to welcome Brenna Greene back to our program. As a former Red Ranger, Brenna was instrumental in helping the team win the Division 1 State Championship in 2019. She then went on to play at Salem State,” he said.

Sheehy says that one of Greene’s strengths is that she is well aware of the pedigree associated with the program: “Brenna knows our culture, values and expectations. Although she is new to coaching at this level, she has experience coaching at the younger levels and has even coached some of the current players.

“She loves the game, knows what it takes to win at the high school level and play at the next level. She was also coached by Sarah and Dave. I also want to thank Sarah for always answering my calls and questions and helping me navigate taking the reins of an already successful program,” he said.

With a new head coach, new assistant coach and new players, things will be a little different on the ice for this year’s Red Rangers, but the objective has not changed.

“My goal is to win,” says Sheehy. “We have a great team and a good group of young girls coming up. I have high expectations for this team and know we can be great if we put the work and time into our game.

“This team has always been so fun to coach and I don’t expect that to change either. From their pregame rituals and songs to the games we play on the ice, this team knows how to win and has fun doing it.”

John Molori is an author, columnist, and a 2011 inductee into the Methuen Athletic Hall of Fame. Facebook: John Molori, Twitter @MoloriMedia. Email molorimedia@gmail.com