Bruce M. Racine has been elected to the Northeastern Hall of Fame for his excellence in the sport of hockey. If the 1980s were the golden era of NU hockey then Racine, Class of '88, was the golden boy of the era.
Racine arrived for the 1984-85 season slated to be the backup to a proven veteran, yet he started 26 of 38 games. In the Beanpot, he backboned the Huskies to victories over Boston College then Boston University for NU's third-ever "Pot" title. His save percentage won him the tournament's Eberly Award and his heroics earned him the Most Valuable Player Award. Even though the team finished the season 11-22-1 in Hockey East and 13-24-1 overall, Racine was voted to the conference's All-Rookie and All-Star teams.
In his sophomore season, Racine demonstrated the durability that would characterize his career, playing 37 of 39 games. The team improved to 20-13-3 overall.
Racine had a breakthrough campaign in 1986-87. He played in 33 of 36 games and posted a 4.06 goals against average with an .875 save percentage. Racine went on to receive many honors, including Team MVP, All-Hockey East, All-New England and All-America.
His senior season, however, would be the best. The good times started with the Beanpot. The previous year, the Huskies lost in the final to BU in overtime, 4-3. They wanted revenge and got it. After dispatching BC 4-0 in the first round, the Racine-led Huskies beat the Terriers 6-3 for their fourth Beanpot. He once again won the Eberly Award and became the first goaltender to win two Beanpot MVP awards.
Racine's senior season of 1987-88 ended with glory. In the semifinals of Hockey East in a total-goals, two-game playoff with Lowell, Racine allowed only three goals as the Huskies advanced to the championship game. He then came up big again as NU upset Maine 4-3 to win the title. Racine was named tournament Most Valuable Player. More honors rolled in: Team MVP, All-New England, and All-America. He joined Ray Picard (1952, '53) and Art Chisholm (1960, '61) as the only NU players to be voted All-America twice.
Racine rewrote the record book, establishing new NU goaltending marks for games played (126), saves (3620) and wins (57). In 1994, Racine was voted to the Hockey East All-Decade Team, and in 1995, he earned induction into the Beanpot Hall of Fame.
A winner of a Stanley Cup ring with Pittsburgh, he has finished his 13th season in professional hockey.
