Al Clark, a native of Port Arthur, Ontario, coached his 1000th career game as head of the Culver Varsity A team on February 1, 2003. The hockey program at Culver was founded in 1976 by Clark, who in 1994 received the John Mariucci Award as the nationís top high school hockey coach.

A former head of Culver's math department and the athletic department, and a current math instructor, Clark is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of New Hampshire, where he also earned his master's degree. Drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs, he was a standout collegiate player selected to his alma mater's athletic hall of fame in 1991.

In the first 32 years of hockey at Culver, Clark helped build a program that amassed 20 state championships, in addition to producing 148 college players, including 70 at the Division I level and 22 National Hockey League draft picks. Seven of his former players have reached the National Hockey League. Marked by their disciplined play and consistency, Clark's teams have won 70 percent of their games through 2007.
According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, his 827 wins during this span are second in high school hockey history to Mount St. Charles (R.I.) Academy's Bill Belisle.

He  and his wife Blair, a librarian at the Academies, have two grown children, Jeff and Allison, both of whom are Culver graduates.