Rand Pecknold (born February 4, 1967) is an American ice hockey coach who serves as the head coach for the men's ice hockey team at Quinnipiac University.
Pecknold was born February 4, 1967, in Bedford, New Hampshire. He attended, and played varsity hockey, for Manchester High School West and Lawrence Academy. He went on to play collegiately at Division III Connecticut College, where he set single season scoring records for goals and points by a defenseman.
Pecknold was an assistant hockey coach at Connecticut College for three years. Pecknold is currently the head coach of the Quinnipiac Bobcats men's ice hockey team. He took over the program at Quinnipiac in 1994 and led the transition from Division II to Division I in the 1998âÂÂ99 season, when he was able to become full time as coach of the program. In his first five years at Quinnipiac, he continued to teach high school history at North Haven High School.
In his 19th season behind the bench, he led the Bobcats to the 2013 Frozen Four where they lost the National Championship game to archrival Yale. In the 2014âÂÂ15 season, Pecknold reached 400 career wins, making him the 33rd Division I head coach to reach such a feat. Pecknold once again led the Bobcats to the Frozen Four in 2015âÂÂ16 where they fell in the National Championship game to North Dakota 5âÂÂ1. In April 2017, Pecknold was selected by USA Hockey as an assistant coach for the U.S. Men's National Team at the 2017 IIHF World Championship in Germany and France. In 2022, he was named head coach of the U.S. National Junior Team at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship in Canada. After losing to the defending and eventual back-to-back world junior champions Canada in the semifinals, Pecknold led the U.S. to the bronze medal game, where they defeated Sweden 8âÂÂ7 in overtime to win the bronze medal. He coached the Quinnipiac Bobcats to the 2022âÂÂ23 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Division I National Championship.