Timothy Blake Taylor, 71, of Guilford, died peacefully on April 27 at the Connecticut Hospice, Branford, with his loving family by his side.  He was the beloved husband of Diana Cooke.  Tim was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on March 26, 1942, son of the late John I. Taylor and Margaret Blake Taylor. That Tim brought a stately intelligence to hockey surprised no one. Educated at Harvard, he became the winning-est hockey coach at Yale University, an English major spinning the X’s and O’s of playmaking into a victorious narrative for many a year. Tim was named Eastern College Athletic Conference coach of the year three times, an award that now bears his name. 

Tim grew up in South Natick, Massachusetts, the second of four brothers. Although he excelled at all sports, he was drawn to hockey even as a boy skating on the frozen Charles River.  Tim’s father was president of the Boston Globe, but Tim never really considered a newspaper career. Turning to coaching hockey in his 20s, Tim helped create a youth hockey program in Greater Boston. 

A gifted athlete, Tim was captain of the hockey team at Milton Academy and captain of the Ivy League championship team his senior year at Harvard, from which he graduated in 1963. After he almost made the 1964 Olympic squad, the Olympics became a life goal he realized first as an assistant coach for the 1984 hockey team, and then as head coach in 1994 in Lillehammer, Norway.  He was Yale’s coach from 1976 until 2006, and his 337 victories were the most posted by a hockey coach at the university. Tim brought the team to the ECAC playoffs 19 times, including once to the championship. He coached six Ivy League champion teams and was named ECAC coach of the year in 1987, ’92, and ’98.

Tim played on the U.S. National Team in 1965 and 1967 and subsequently became its head coach, leading Team USA in 1991 to its best finish in the Canada Cup.  In 2006, USA Hockey presented him its Distinguished Achievement Award.

Tim spent seven years as an assistant at Harvard before Yale named him head coach in 1976.  After Yale, he worked in various capacities for USA Hockey and the U.S. National Junior Team.  He was in Russia just a few months before his death, helping to guide yet one more generation of players to the Gold Medal.

While at Yale, Tim met Diana Cooke, an admissions officer who became the liaison to the hockey team.  They married a decade ago and were together close to 25 years.  Diana said that throughout his life and career, Tim “wanted to be sure he made a contribution that was bigger than himself.  He wanted to feel that in some small way he made the world a better place for others. And sometimes he would tell me that he didn’t see his role as being only a father or only a coach.  His motivation for the amount of hours he put into his passion was that there had to be a purpose to our lives that was bigger than we as individuals.  I feel from the many letters we received prior to his death that he accomplished that.”

Besides his wife, Tim is survived by his children, Justin Taylor of Chicago, Illinois, and Leah Van Ness Taylor of Hailey, Idaho.  He is also survived by three brothers, John Taylor of Boulder, Colorado, David Taylor of Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, and Benjamin Taylor of Brookline, Massachusetts; a stepdaughter, Elizabeth Bashawaty of Middlebury, Connecticut; a stepson, Tim Caputo of West Newton, Massachusetts; a grandson; and seven step-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, June 1, at 12 noon, at the Memorial Church, located in Harvard Yard, Cambridge, Massachusetts.  In lieu of flowers, contributions in his memory may be made to the Prostate Cancer Foundation, 1250 Fourth St., Santa Monica, CA 90401; or to the Old Meeting House of Francestown, New Hampshire, P.O. Box 213, Francestown, NH 03043.  The Guilford Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.  To share a memory or leave a message of condolence for the family, please visit: www.GuilfordFuneralHome.com