Burrillville’s Clegg to receive R.I. Hockey Hall of Fame Chace Memorial Trophy

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LINCOLN – A former Bronco championship hockey player who went on to become general manager of the Rhode Island Reds will receive the Rhode Island Hockey Hall of Fame’s Malcolm Green Chace Memorial Trophy at the organization’s induction ceremony later this year.

Buster Clegg grew up in Burrillville and was an All-State defenseman on the Broncos’ 1955 state championship team coached by Tom Eccleston.

He attended the University of New Hampshire where he was defenseman and co-captain of the hockey team and was named team co-MVP as a senior.

Clegg was then hired for an administrative role by the American Hockey League’s Rhode Island Reds. He became the team’s general manager in 1966 at the age of 29 – the youngest person who had ever served in the role at the time.

The Burrillville native was a long-time coach of East Providence youth hockey, and in the 1970s, founded the Barrington Youth Hockey Association. He himself played on amateur hockey for teams including the R.I. Scarlets and the R.I. Oldies.

He has also served as an analyst for televised Boston Bruins hockey games.

Clegg is the founding president of the R.I. Reds Heritage Society, a non-profit organization with the mission of restoring and preserving the history of the the Rhode Island Reds Hockey Club.

The Chace Trophy is named after the Central Falls native Malcolm Greene Chace, who is credited with bringing the game of ice hockey to the U.S. from Canada in the late 1800s. Chace was also a Hall of Fame tennis player, and considered instrumental in bringing electric power to New England as a financier and textile industrialist.

Clegg will be recognized for “achievement and outstanding service by a Rhode Islander to the game of hockey,” at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony Aug. 28 at the Twin River Event Center.

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