For leading Massachusetts to its first NCAA Frozen Four appearance, Greg Carvel has been chosen the winner of the 2019 Spencer Penrose Award as Division I Men’s Ice Hockey CCM/AHCA Coach of the Year.
The honor is not only a first for Carvel but it also is the first such honor for UMass since it entered Division I hockey in 1993.
Carvel will receive his award on Wednesday, May 1, launching the American Hockey Coaches Association’s annual convention in Naples, Fla.
UMass enjoyed an historic season, setting new school records in just about every team category. Entering a Thursday semifinal with Denver, UMass sports a record of 30-9-0, the last pair of wins coming in the NCAA Regionals in Manchester, N.H. Led by Hobey Baker hopeful and Northeast Regional MVP Cale Makar, the Minutemen advanced with a pair of convincing 4-0 wins over Harvard and Notre Dame, respectively.
An NHL coaching veteran and a former ECAC Coach of the Year, Carvel was named the 14th head coach at UMass on March 29, 2016. Through three seasons in Amherst, his record is 52-58-4. His win totals at UMass have gone from five to 17 to 30.
Overall, including his four seasons at the helm of St. Lawrence, his career mark is 124-121-19.
A former Saints captain and the first CoSIDA Academic All-American in SLU program history, Carvel was the first ECAC Coach to have won a major league award as a player and its Coach of the Year Award. He was the 1993 Outstanding Defensive Forward award winner. He had 38 goals and 85 assists for 123 points in 131 collegiate games.
Assisting Carvel this season are Ben Barr, Jared DeMichiel and T.J. Syner.
The runner-up for this year’s AHCA Men’s Division I Coach of the Year award is American International’s Eric Lang.
The Spencer Penrose Award is named in memory of the Colorado Springs benefactor who built the Broadmoor Hotel Complex, site of the first 10 NCAA championship hockey tournaments.
