Don DelNegro (Westfield State Class of 1984) has achieved national and international acclaim as an athletic trainer. The most memorable moment of his 25-year professional career came in June of 2011 when he hoisted the Stanley Cup as the head athletic trainer of the National Hockey League (NHL) champion Boston Bruins.

DelNegro, now in his 19th season as the Boston Bruins head athletic trainer, was a student trainer all four years he attended Westfield State. DelNegro performed 1800 hours of volunteer service, working primarily with the Owl football, basketball, baseball and ice hockey teams under the guidance of legendary Westfield State athletic trainer Rich Pierce, who was inducted into the Westfield Hall of Fame following his retirement in 2006. 

DelNegro’s dream of working in professional sports, especially for the Boston hockey team he grew up rooting for in his hometown of North Adams, Mass., was fulfilled when he was hired by the Bruins in 1993 after a five-year stint as the director of sports medicine at Williams College. He earned a master’s degree in sports medicine from Indiana State in 1986 and was the assistant athletic trainer at the United States Olympic training center in Lake Placid, N.Y., from 1986-1988.

DelNegro accomplished other career goals by being selected the athletic trainer for the U.S. Bobsled and Luge teams at the 1992 Olympic Games in Albertville, France, and for Team USA at the 2000, 2005 and 2007 World Hockey championships. Moreover, he crossed paths with another Westfield State graduate when he served as head athletic trainer for the U.S. men’s hockey team at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy. Peter Laviolette (Class of 1986 and a Westfield State Hall of Fame inductee in 2002) was the head coach of the 2006 Olympic ice hockey squad. DelNegro was also the U.S. wrestling team trainer at the 1991 Pan American Games in Havana, Cuba.

As accommodating as the NHL players he treats, DelNegro always welcomes opportunities to share his experiences and expertise with aspiring athletic trainers. DelNegro has met with Westfield State student athletic trainers prior to games in Boston and he has returned to Westfield State several times to make presentations at career workshops.

DelNegro and his wife, Claire, have a daughter, Renee (13), and reside in Lynnfield, Mass. His wife was a member of the 1984 U.S. Olympic Luge team and has been vice president of the International Luge Federation since 1998. They enjoy spending time at their summer home in Lake Placid, N.Y., where they shared the Stanley Cup with family and friends for a day on July 12.