Joe Pereira ('11), a member of the Terriers' 2009 national championship team, returned to BU as associate head coach and completed his third season on the coaching staff in 2023-24.
Pereira has helped BU reach three straight Frozen Fours for the first time since a run of five straight appearances in 1993-97. He also helped lead BU to the Hockey East regular-season and tournament titles during his debut season on the coaching staff. He has recruited five first-round picks in the NHL Draft during his three seasons at BU, including 2024 Hobey Baker Award winner and 2024 No. 1 pick Macklin Celebrini.
Pereira joined the BU coaching staff after spending nine seasons at UConn, including the last four seasons as associate head coach. While at UConn, Pereira played a significant role in the Huskies’ recruiting efforts and was instrumental in helping UConn reach its first-ever Hockey East title game in 2022. Pereira coached the program’s first two All-Americans, Jonny Evans (2021) and Ryan Tverberg (2022), and 29 Huskies have signed pro contracts during Pereira’s tenure at UConn, including a program-record nine players from the 2021-22 squad.
A native of West Haven, Connecticut, Pereira began his coaching career with the club hockey program at Sacred Heart during the 2012-13 season, leading the Pioneers to their first-ever Northeast Collegiate Hockey League championship. Pereira also served as director of scouting for Madison Avenue Sports and Entertainment.
Pereira was a member of the Terriers’ 2009 squad that claimed the program’s fifth national title, in addition to that year’s Beanpot and Hockey East regular-season and tournament trophies. He led the team in goals as a senior and finished his collegiate career with 27 goals and 34 assists for 61 points in 139 games.
By the conclusion of his playing career at BU, Pereira was a two-time recipient of the team’s Bennett McInnis Memorial Award for Spirit and was also selected as the Friends/Albert Sidd Unsung Hero as a senior captain. Additionally, Pereria earned Hockey East All-Academic honors in 2009 and received the Regina Eilberg Scholarship, which is presented to the player who combines the highest standards of Terrier athletics and academic performance. Pereira graduated in 2011 with a degree in business management.
Pereira played professionally with the Worcester Sharks and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the American Hockey League during the 2010-11 season before a stint with Tingsryds AIF in Sweden. Pereira then skated for the Idaho Steelheads and South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL in 2011-12.
As associate head coach, Pereira will bring his knowledge and love of the great sport of hockey to this role along and help head coach Jay Pandolfo and the student-athletes develop a hockey program the entire BU community will be proud of and support.
