A Penn State Hockey Legend Who Should Never Be Forgotten

“Dr. Lawrence ‘Larry’ Hendry, 81, a distinguished chemist, pioneering entrepreneur, and passionate sports enthusiast, passed away August 30, 2026, leaving behind a legacy of profound scientific and athletic contributions.” 

This was the opening paragraph of the formal obituary of my friend and former Penn State hockey coach Larry Hendry. His professional successes are amazing, but I knew him best as a Penn State hockey founder and coach, golf enthusiast and a devoted family man. 

As Herb Brown, one of the players on Coach Hendry’s first PSU team stated, “Larry’s efforts can’t be underestimated. He was our leader but also one of us. We felt a special bond with him.”

By the grace of God, former player Bill Charles, I and our wives, were able to spend a last visit with Coach Hendry, his lovely wife, Wendy, and their daughter, Kristen, just a few weeks ago at their home in Augusta, Georgia. Coach Hendry and Wendy have welcomed us into their home on several occasions, including hosting us twice for The Masters when Coach was performing one of his greatest passions, being a marshall at the 18th green at Augusta National. 

I first learned about Coach Hendry’s passion for hockey when I was a player at Penn State in 1978. After reading the history of Penn State hockey written by former player Bill Proudman, I did interviews with all the folks who had something to do with resurrecting Penn State hockey back in 1971. 

My research taught me that without the Herculean efforts of Coach Hendry and a few of his former players, there would not have been a return of hockey at Penn State after a 25-year hiatus following a brief period as a varsity program from 1939-1947. I personally would never have gotten the opportunity to represent Penn State on the ice as a player, on the bench as a coach and finally as an associate athletic director when the team was granted NCAA status in 2012. That would not have happened without the passion, perseverance and leadership of Coach Hendry. 

I had the honor of inducting Coach Hendry into the Penn State Ice Hockey Hall of Fame back in 2003. At his own induction ceremony, he presented me with a signed copy of one of the original game programs from 1971. It featured a silhouette of legendary Cornell and Montreal Canadiens goalie Ken Dryden and was also signed by legendary NHL coach Scotty Bowman. On his day of recognition, he was busy caring about others. That’s just the way he was. 

Here are some stories shared by former players and lifelong friends:

Roy “Scotty” Scott Class of ‘74

The first time I met Larry was at his office in Chandlee Lab. He had a poster of NHL legend Gordie Howe behind his chair.  What struck me was that we (the students) had already started the process of trying to start up a real team. But before Larry came to Penn State, the dynamic was students demanding their right to play hockey and the administration just saying “No!” My rabble rousing wasn’t enough to get then Health and Physical Education Dean Robert Scannell to even give us a meeting.  

But with a faculty member willing to stick their neck out, we had our first meeting face to face with the Dean.  He told us that we would have to convince him, and a lot of other people, that there really was interest in playing ice hockey at Penn State.  

So, we set out to prove that interest with our petition drives with students and faculty to state that they would gladly provide their own equipment and pay for ice time. At the meeting where Larry and the rest of the group, including Dave McCrabb, presented our proof of support for hockey, I remember looking over at Larry after Dean Scannell broke his pencil taking notes.  

At the third meeting, the Dean told us that he was convinced and that they would be investing in improvements to the boards at the Ice Pavillion for hockey. The rest as they say is history. Without Larry, I doubt we would have succeeded.

Bill Charles, Class of ‘73

We were playing a game in the Pittsburgh Civic Arena against the Pitt Hockey Club. Their star player, Glenn Hyde, grew up in Massachusetts and played football as well as hockey. Glenn was 6’ 3” 250 pounds and had a monster slap shot and played right defense for Pitt. As a left wing, Coach Hendry wanted us to try to block Hyde’s slap shot. Keep in mind this was when hockey helmets did not have face masks! I asked Larry if he would be paying for my new front teeth after I took a shot in my choppers! 

We also played a series of games with the Pittsburgh Knights, a semi-professional team, that featured a player named Donny Rizzo who was as tough as he was talented. After getting thumped by the Rizzo-led Knights 8-2, Coach told me the next time we played them my job would be to shadow Rizzo! I followed him everywhere and he grew increasingly frustrated until finally he jumped on my back and started a fight! Next thing you know we have a bench clearing brawl! Coach Hendry knew exactly how to get under Rizzo’s skin!

Dave McCrabb Class of ‘72

Three weeks into our fall practices for the inaugural year, there were 300 guys who signed up to play hockey and Larry had to create a “varsity” team, “junior varsity” team and an intramural league. The varsity team would dress four offensive lines and three defensive pairings. This onerous, but necessary job was nearly done, but there were still five offensive lines. Larry had to decide whether to keep a fifth line or send some players down to “JV”.

I could see that Larry was having difficulty with the roster decisions. It was quite clear to me that I was one of the weakest players still on the varsity roster. So, I went to Larry and told him that I intended to go down to JV.  He looked at me and said, “There are two people on the roster, you and Scotty, without whom none of this would have happened. Both of you will be on the varsity team as long as I am coach here.” I opened my mouth to argue but was quickly cut off by him. “I’m not debating this with you. Get out there and finish your laps.”

I was shocked but slowly came to realize that to Larry there were some things more important in life than winning every hockey game. I have many, many very fond memories of my friendship with Larry. This one is, I think, the most meaningful.

Jim Graulty, Class of ‘73

In those days, hockey equipment in State College was pretty scarce. That being the case, Larry surveyed the team for left-handed and right-hand shots, how many sticks, the preferred lie and the blade type. He used his connection with a sports shop in Ithaca, N.Y. to put in an order for a quantity of sticks at cost. I can’t remember how many dozens it ended up being, but it was a sizable haul of sticks.

He planned to drive to Ithaca to pick up the sticks and return to State College the same day. Hearing this, I volunteered to ride along to keep him company and help load and unload the sticks. He gladly accepted and off we went in a van borrowed from the university. We picked up the sticks, then went to what I’m pretty sure was the Cornell hockey hangout in Ithaca, where he bought us dinner, and we headed back to State College.  

So, he solved the hockey stick shortage in State College and since we all paid our own expenses, got us what we needed at cost vs. retail.

Herb Brown, Class of ‘73

Getting the program off the ground took a gargantuan effort. Larry was the leader we all looked up to for making this dream a reality. Larry worked with facilities to get all these tasks done:  

1. Preparing the Rink:  Painting the lines on the ice; finding hockey goals (found under Beaver Stadium, last used in the 1947-48 season!); old volleyball nets for netting; adapting the boards (with chicken wire fencing instead of plexiglass); built benches and penalty boxes; an electronic scoreboard was brought in from one of the outside fields.  
2. Securing Equipment: Letters were written to the Penguins and Flyers asking for equipment donations.  Only the Penguins responded. They sent us goalie leg pads, used pants and leg stockings.I have a pair of the blue outer shell Pens pants in my garage. Larry drove to Pittsburgh to pick up equipment in his Dodge Dart.
3. Securing Jerseys: once again something that needed to be ordered, but we had so many other things to do first. We all wore football jerseys over top of any equipment we had at first to make us look like a team for the first games. Later, we were able to secure Toronto Maple Leaf replica jerseys, added numbers and eventually the new PSU team logo to the chest. Then came what I feel may have been the most difficult part…
4. Building a team from Scratch: tryouts, practices, scheduling ice times and games, home and away; developing a budget, paying the bills.

Larry was always in the background or on the edges of any pictures of the team. He didn’t want to be the center of attention. This wasn’t just for us. We were all committed to building a legacy. We wanted PSU hockey to have a bright future. We wanted PSU to be a D1 program competing at the highest levels. We had our opportunity to play, but we also wanted to build a tradition, a foundation for the program to build on. In the background, Dean Scannell didn’t want hockey to happen or to work. We wanted to prove him wrong.

Coach Hendry impacted so many lives as a researcher, professor, businessman, golf enthusiast, ice hockey referee and coach. I know that I speak for hundreds of former players and coaches, and thousands of hockey and golf fans over the past 55 years when I say, “Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, Coach. We look forward to one day joining you on a frozen pond and a great golf course in Heaven!”