Gary Wright

Gary Wright led the Yellow Jackets to 313 wins during his 32-year tenure as head coach of the men's hockey team.

(Bob Blanchard)

After serving as bench boss of the American International College men's ice hockey team for 32 years, head coach Gary Wright announced his resignation on Thursday.

"My time at AIC has been enormously enriched by the people I've worked with on campus, our assistant coaches and the players I've coached as well as my coaching colleagues on the other bench," Wright said. "It has often been said that playing college hockey helps make college the best four years of your life. For me, that association extended to nearly forty years [32 years at AIC]. I only wish that my record had been better. Otherwise, it has been a wonderful run, with few regrets."

Along with Michigan's Red Berenson, Wright was the longest tenured coach in all of Division I men's hockey last year -- even surpassing 300 career wins during the 2013-14 season off of a 2-1 victory over Army.

With 313 wins on his resume, Wright led a number of talented Yellow Jacket teams over the years, including a 1989-90 squad that claimed the ECAC East Championship.

Wright also helped pave the way for AIC hockey to make the jump up to Division I before the start of the 1998-1999 season, with the Yellow Jackets serving as a charter member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and later the Atlantic Hockey Association.

Wright later earned MAAC Hockey League Coach of the Year honors after leading AIC to an 11-14-4 record during the team's first campaign as a D-I program.

Off the ice, Wright's team's often excelled in the classroom, with the 2014-15 Yellow Jackets netting a perfect Academic Progress Rate (APR) of 1000, as well as a four-year average of 993.

"Gary Wright has done things the right way for 32 years," AIC Athletic Director Matthew Johnson said. "He recruited students of high character and prepared them to be productive members of society after college. He has mentored hundreds of players, instilling sound moral and ethical principles on a daily basis through his own actions. Gary is well respected on campus, within the Atlantic Hockey Conference and throughout the country.

"He has been a tremendous ambassador for the game of hockey and American International College for more than three decades. We will deeply miss Gary and wish him nothing but health and happiness as he enters a new chapter of his life."