WMU's Ferschweiler Wins National Coach of Year

Western Michigan University head coach Pat Ferschweiler has been named the 2025 recipient of the Spencer Penrose Award as the top head coach in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey.

Ferschweiler, 55, a WMU graduate from Rochester, Minn., is in his fourth season at the helm of his alma mater, where he has fashioned a 102-50-4 overall record to date, including four straight NCAA tournament berths. So far this season he has led the Broncos to a best-ever 32-7-1 overall record, including a 19-4-1 mark in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, their first-ever NCHC regular-season and conference tournament titles, and WMU's first-ever NCAA Frozen Four appearance.  

Ferschweiler skated three seasons at right wing for the Broncos from 1990 to 1993. He registered 30 goals and 65 assists for 95 points to go along with 185 penalty minutes in 116 games. before going on to an eight-year professional career. He began his coaching career at WMU from 2010 to 2014, then spent one year as an assistant with Grand Rapids (AHL) and four years with the Detroit Red Wings before returning to Kalamazoo as associate head coach with the Broncos in 2019. He was elevated to head coach at WMU in 2021 upon the resignation of Andy Murray.

WMU will face NCHC rival and defending national champion Denver in the first Frozen Four semifinal on Thursday at the Enterprise Center in St. louis (5:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2).

Mike Sertich 1947-2024

Longtime men's college hockey head coach Mike Sertich (Minnesota-Duluth) passed away late last week at the age of 77 after battling pancreatic cancer.

A former Minnesota-Duluth defenseman from 1965 to 1969, Sertich went on to coach his alma mater for 18 seasons, from 1982 to 2000. In that time he guided the Bulldogs to two WCHA tournament titles, three WCHA regular-season crowns, and four NCAA tournament berths, including a national runner-up finish in 1984 when he also earned the Spencer Penrose Award as the nation's top collegiate head coach. A four-time WCHA Coach of the Year recipient, he also led UMD to eight seasons with 20 or more victories. He was inducted into the UMD Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005.

A native of Virginia, Minn., Sertich finished his NCAA Division I head coaching career by guiding Michigan Tech from 2000 to 2003, before serving as a volunteer assistant coach at the College of St. Scholastica from 2010 to 2012. His career NCAA head coaching record stands at 375-397-53, while his overall mark at UMD was 350-28-44.

More NCAA Head Coaching Changes Occur

Two more NCAA Division I schools have or will be making head coaching changes.

Jeff Jackson (Michigan State) will step down from college coaching following the 2024-25 season at the University of Notre Dame, after helming the Fighting Irish for a full 20 years. Since taking over in South Bend in 2005-06, Jackson, 69, has led UND to an overall record of 407-266-73, including 12 NCAA tournament berths, eight combined conference regular-season and tournament titles over three leagues (CCHA, Hockey East, Big Ten), four NCAA Frozen Four berths, and two NCAA championship game appearances. 

Prior to joining the Irish, Jackson spent six seasons as head coach at Lake Superior State University, winning two NCAA championships while also leading the Lakers to six NCAA tournament appearances, four CCHA tournament crowns and two CCHA regular-season titles. A native of Roseville, Michigan, Jackson has also served as head coach with St. Clair (NAHL), the U.S. National Team Development Program, and Guelph (OHL), while also working as an assistant with LSSU and the New York Islanders. He is also a two-time winner of the Spencer Penrose Award as the top head coach in college hockey, and has fashioned an overall NCAA record of 589-318-98.

Dave Shyiak (Northern Michigan) has returned to his alma mater as head coach after serving the past four years as associate head coach at St. Cloud State, where he helped the Huskies to the 2021 NCAA championship game. A native of Brandon, Manitoba, Shyiak previously served as head coach at the University of Alaska Anchorage from 2005 to 2013, where he compiled a record of 80-177-33 with the Seawolves. 

Shyiak, 57, first worked as a head coach in the BCJHL with both Kimberley and Merritt, then spent 10 seasons as assistant/associate head coach at NMU, before later serving as associate head coach at Western Michigan for six seasons after coaching at UAA. He was also a member of NMU's 1991 NCAA championship team, and tallied 20 goals and 22 assists for 42 points to go with 217 penalty minutes in 125 career games as a forward with the Wildcats. 

Former NMU head coach Grant Potulny (Minnesota), who left the Wildcats earlier this month after seven years in Marquette, has been announced as head coach of the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack, the top affiliate of the New York Rangers. He guided NMU to a 128-113-17 mark overall, including their transition from the WCHA to the new CCHA, as just the third head coach in program history.

BC's Brown Named National Coach of the Year

 

Boston College head coach Greg Brown is the 2023-24 recipient of the Spencer Penrose Award, which is bestowed annually upon the top head coach in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey. He had previously been named Hockey East Coach of the Year in helming the Eagles to both the Hockey East regular-season and tournament titles.

Brown, 56, spent the 2021-22 season as head coach of Dubuque (USHL) before taking the reins at BC, succeeding the legendary Jerry York. Prior to that, he served three seasons as an assistant coach with the NHL's New York Rangers, after a 14-year stint as an assistant/associate coach at his alma mater that included three national championships (2008, 2010, 2012).

A product of the St. Mark's School in his hometown, Brown skated for three seasons at BC, not including one year off to skate with the 1988 U.S. Olympic Team. In those three campaigns on the Heights, he tallied 24 goals and 96 assists for 110 points in 119 outings . As a junior, he captained the Eagles to the 1990 Hockey East tournament title and the NCAA Frozen Four in Detroit, and and was also a Hobey Baker Memorial Award finalist that same year. A two-time First Time All-America selection and a two-time Hockey East Player of the Year honoree, Brown was preceded at BC by his older brother, Doug, and later coached his nephews, Chris and Patrick, with the Eagles.

Drafted 26th overall by Buffalo in 1986, Brown collected four goals and 18 points in 94 career NHL games with the Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins and Winnipeg Jets, and also skated for the 1992 U.S. Olympic Team. He also played with Rochester (AHL) and Cleveland (IHL), before finishing his professional career with eight seasons in Europe, including stops in Switzerland, Sweden, Austria and Germany.

Brown will guide the Eagles (33-5-1 overall) in the second NCAA Frozen Four semifinal tomorrow night against Michigan (8:30 p.m. ESPN2).

RIT's Wilson Wins 400th Career Game

Head coach Wayne Wilson of the Rochester Institute of Technology has joined college hockey's 400 club.

Wilson, 60, a graduate of Bowling Green State University who was a senior captain on the Falcons' 1984 NCAA title team as a player, earned his 400th career victory as a college head coach, all at RIT, following the Tigers' 1-0 overtime victory at Princeton University on Saturday that completed a two-step sweep. Jake Hamacher scored the only goal of the game 35 seconds into overtime on a power play, while Tommy Scarfone made 21 saves in net for his first career college victory and shutout.

A native of Montreal, Wilson took over as RIT's head coach in 1999-2000, after serving as an assistant at both BGSU and New Hampshire. He led the Tigers to the NCAA Division III championship game in his second season at the helm, which earned him the Edward Jeremiah Award as the nation's top Division III coach. He guided RIT to 116 victories in all, a combined seven ECAC West regular season/postseason crowns, and three NCAA Division III tournament berths before overseeing the program's transition to NCAA Division I beginning with the 2005-06 campaign. 

He has since directed the Tigers to four Atlantic Hockey Association regular-season championships, three Atlantic Hockey playoff titles, and three NCAA Division I tournament appearances, including a run to the NCAA Frozen Four in Detroit in 2010 that earned him the Spencer Penrose Award that year as the top Division I coach. Wilson, whose overall career record now stands at 400-279-75 (.580), is the only coach to win both the Jeremiah and Penrose awards.

RIT is currently 9-5-2 overall, and tied for first in Atlantic Hockey at 5-3-2-1. The Tigers will return to action on Dec. 11-12 with two league games against visiting Army West Point.

Carvel of UMass Wins Spencer Penrose Award

Greg Carvel (Massachusetts) has been tabbed as the 2019 Spencer Penrose Award as the NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey CCM/AHCA Coach of the Year. The runner-up was Eric Lang of American International College, who led the Yellowjackets to their first-ever Atlantic Hockey regular-season and playoff titles, and the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.

This season Carvel has led the Minutemen to a 30-9-0 overall record (.769), a Hockey East regular-season championship, and a berth in the NCAA Frozen Four. UMass will face Denver in the
second national semifinal on Thursday (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2) in Buffalo, with the winner to advance to Saturday's national title game. The Minutemen won the NCAA Northeast Regional in Manchester, N.H. last month by defeating both Harvard and Notre Dame by 4-0 scores.

A 1993 graduate of St. Lawrence, Carvel served as head coach of his alma mater from 2012 to 2016 before moving on to UMass. The Minutemen finished 5-29-2 in his first campaign in Amherst
before improving to 17-20-2 a year ago. This year they posted the first 30-win season in school history, and earned their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2007. His career collegiate record now
stands at 124-121-19 (.506).

A native of Canton, N.Y. and a former captain at St. Lawrence, Carvel skated four years with his hometown Saints, totaling 37 goals and 134 points from 1989 to 1993. He then played one
year of professional hockey in Sweden before embarking upon a coaching and scouting career that included NHL stops in Anaheim and Ottawa before he went back to SLU as an assistant for a
year, prior to taking the top job with the Saints.

Hobey Hat Trick and Spencer Penrose Award Nominees Named

The pool of 10 finalists for the 2013 Hobey Baker Memorial Award has been whittled down to the Hobey Hat Trick. This year's top three:

Drew LeBlanc 
Sr., F, St. Cloud State (WCHA) 41 games, 13-37—50 points.
Johnny Gaudreau 
So., F, Boston College (HEA), 35 GP, 21-31—51 points.
Eric Hartzell 
Sr., G, Quinnipiac, 40 GP, 29-6-5, 1.55, .933, 6 shutouts.

The award will be presented on April 12 between the semifinals and finals of the 2013 NCAA Frozen Four in Pittsburgh.

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The finalists for this year's Spencer Penrose Award for the top coach in NCAA Division I men's college hockey have also been announced, according to USCHO.com:

• Keith Allain (Yale)
Has led the Bulldogs to their first Frozen Four since 1952 coach.
• Norm Bazin (UMass Lowell)
Hockey East Coach of Year, Frozen Four coach.
• Enrico Blasi (Miami)
CCHA Coach of the Year in the league's final season.
• Dave Burkholder (Niagara)
Atlantic Hockey Coach of the Year.
• Mike Hastings (Minnesota State)
WCHA Coach of the Year.
• Bob Motzko (St. Cloud State)
Has led the Huskies to their first-ever Frozen Four.
• Rand Pecknold (Quinnipiac)
ECAC Coach of the Year, Frozen Four coach.

Yale faces UMass Lowell in the early national semifinal (4:30 p.m. ET) in Pittsburgh on April 11 at the Consol Energy Center, while Quinnipiac takes on St. Cloud later that evening. The winners then meet on April 13 at 7 p.m. to decide the Division I men's national championship.