Bishop Guertin boys hockey fans pay tribute to Gary Bishop after his team gave him his 500th Cardinal win as head coach 4-0 over Billerica Monday night at Skate 3 in Tyngsborough, Mass. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

TYNGSBOROUGH, Mass.- Gary Bishop was slated to get up early Tuesday morning and head to Billerica (Mass.) Memorial High School, his alma mater and where he works in the IT department.

“It’s only a half day,” he said.

But perhaps the school administration might want to give Bishop the entire day off, because he had a milestone to celebrate: His 500th career win as Bishop Guertin boys hockey coach.

Except for one thing: The team his Cardinals beat 4-0 for the milestone on Monday night at Skate 3 was none other than – you guessed it – Billerica (Mass.) Memorial.

“It’s great,” Bishop said of his BG milestone, which adds to perhaps another 100 wins or so at his former head job at Austin Prep. “These kids are great. This is a good group, bunch of good kids. I’ve had some great players over the years.”

But it couldn’t have worked out any better that such a special win came against a school he once played for, taught at for many years, was an assistant principal, and after retiring from there returned to work IT.

“The fact it came against Billerica is great,” he said. “Most of the kids in the (handshake) line I know….I started in Billerica, I finished up in Billerica.”

Bishop’s players were thrilled for their coach.

“It’s great, you know,” said Cards senior captain Jordan O’Hearn, who scored two goals in the win. “He’s been a mentor for me the past three years, he’s a great coach, he helps everyone out around the community. So hey, congrats to him, he’s built this team through and through. So proud of him.”

The game wasn’t the easiest, but it did improve the Cards record to 2-0. They were clinging for much of the contest to a 1-0 lead that came courtesy of O’Hearn’s first goal 11 minutes into the first period, assisted by Cam Auger. But then a Billerica turnover in the BG end led to a 3-on-2 break that produced a goal by Owen Murphy, assisted by Dom Trepanier at 6:35 of the third period.

That gave the Cards some breathing room, and they got two more goals, one each by Anthony Dobrutchi and then an empty netter by O’Hearn.

“The score does not show what this game was,” Bishop said. “This was hard-fought. They outshot us, and at times they outplayed us physically. We usually don’t shy away, but we’ve got a lot of young kids.”

Bishop Guertin boys hockey coach Gary Bishop celebrates his 500th win guiding the Cards with his players after Monday night’s 4-0 game vs. Billerica (Mass.) at Skate 3. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

Including a sophomore goalie, Nico Scaparotti, who had 31 saves for his second straight shuout to start the season. The biggest threat came when a BG turnover had Billerica’s Cam Smith facing him point blank early in the third, but he was equal to task.

“He’s an athlete,” Bishop said. “He’ll do 20 pushups like nothing. He’ll do 20 pushups like nothing. He’s an athlete. One of those kids. It really helps him as a goaltender.”

There’s strength, but there’s something else this Cardinal team has.

“I like our foot speed, which is more than we’ve had in the past,” Bishop said. “Dobrutchi can fly, Owen Murphy can fly, O’Hearn, Dom, when they want to skate they can really fly. They got caught up in the physicality of it tonight, I’d rather have them just skate.”

But they got him the win, no matter how tough it was until the late insurance goals.

A special night. After the game, an announcement of the milestone was made to the crowd, the team gathered around their coach and he was presented with a plaque and also balloons. When he was leaving the ice, some fans were there to congratulate him.

It was clear that the opportunity to give Bishop a special win put a little something extra in the Cards’ skates, which helped going against the MIAA defending Division I champions.

“Definitely, the team wanted to do it for him because he does everything for us,” O’Hearn said. “So, you know, we had to get the job done for him.”

Mission accomplished. Now Bishop hopes his Billerica key card still works, and it won’t take 500 tries.

Bishop Guertin’s Tyler Tesak, left, battles Billerica’s Timmy Murphy for the ;puck during Monday night’s game at Skate 3 Arena in Tyngsborough, Mass. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)